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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27932599">The Lone Wolf In Wynter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackassInACan/pseuds/JackassInACan'>JackassInACan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (Disney Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Werewolf Applies To College, Banter, College, Gen, High School, Medical Examination, Mock Physical, Rugby, The Swearwolf Jar</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:02:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>31,530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27932599</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackassInACan/pseuds/JackassInACan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Wynter Barkowitz is in her pack for life.  She never questioned her place in it, either.  The time has come for her to graduate high school and she could be the first member of her pack to step outside Seabrook to be a werewolf for the world.</p>
<p>Or perhaps just a college campus for now. </p>
<p>To get ready, she'll fill out forms, make sure she has enough pebbles in the Swearwolf Jar for her fees, and join Addison for a college movie night sleepover.  And perhaps someone can explain to her just what 'getting a checkup' entails for humans.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Wynter Barkowitz &amp; Addison Wells, Wynter Barkowitz &amp; Willa Lykensen &amp; Wyatt Lykensen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Since this is a Disney universe and their magical laws apply, I've played quite loosely with the college application process.  These things normally begin the year before graduation and one would hear back from colleges early in the spring.  But this is Seabrook High and a lot can happen in only a few months!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Wynter Barkowitz snarled at her enemies as she launched herself forward.  Her pack-mate had already gone down and she needed to put herself in the gap to stop the onslaught.</p>
<p>Keeping her head up to protect her neck, Wynter covered the fallen Penelope and braced her at shoulder and hip.  Two opponents in red faced her, both of them smirking and unfazed by her fierce expression.  They'd seen it before, after all.</p>
<p>“Awesome war face,” the Hellions blonde informed her, digging her neon cleats into the turf.  “Girlfriend must love it.”  She shoved her shoulder into Wynter's, testing her.  “That ball's ours!”</p>
<p>“You'll lose a hand trying!”  Wynter refused to take the bait and get drawn offside.  In her first match against Hillside, she'd taken too many penalties, but two years of rugby training had hardened her discipline and she now knew how to hold her ground.  Then her nostrils flared as she smelled her backup arriving.</p>
<p>More Seabrook Shrimp players piled in, pink and green jerseys buttressing the ruck.  Penelope finally shoved the ball through her legs to the scrum-half, and Wynter felt the pressure at her back lift as the play resumed to her left.  She shook herself free from the grip of the Hillside Hellions and backed up to let Penelope get to her feet.</p>
<p>When Zed had first insultingly offered to teach her tackling, Wynter had taken him down in short order.  She hadn't known that Zed's football coach would learn of the incident and invite her onto Seabrook's girls' rugby team.  Her compact size, wide body, and powerful legs meant she couldn't be brought down easily, and she'd quickly found a place as a flanker, mauling runners with fierce tackles.  She also dove headfirst into rucks and cleaned out opponents who tried to wrestle the ball away from her teammates.</p>
<p>Wynter rejoined the line as three Hellions leapt on Krystal and hauled her down.  Before she could leap on the growing pile, her #9 Anna dug the ball out and flung it back to their fly half to kick it downfield.  Genevieve went up for it, her dark ponytail fluttering behind her, but her Hellions counterpart slammed into her in midair.  The two girls yelled as they bounced off each other, the ball falling between them.</p>
<p>Without a whistle or shout from the referee this late in the game, the play was still live and Wynter reluctantly left Gen to the trainers.  She hated seeing her pack-mates hurt, but they had to keep the lead.  Her place was at the ball carrier's shoulder and in case of a turnover, she had chaos to cause.</p>
<p>After a few more valiant struggles for territory the Shrimp lost the ball, and one of the taller Hellions rushed forward with it tucked in the crook of her arm.  Without the breath to howl, Wynter settled for a growl and drilled her shoulder into the girl's midriff to wrap her up.  </p>
<p>At one time she would have hit to hurt, to put the Fear of the Wolf in her enemies with no mercy for their cries of pain.  But it had stopped feeling good the second time she'd watched the other team's trainers leaning over a limp form.</p>
<p>It wasn't so fair, after all, when a werewolf hit a human that hard.</p>
<p>A stray elbow caught her on the cheek when she swung the lanky blonde around and Wynter's head snapped back.  They both hit the turf and she pawed blindly at the rough leather ball as other girls arrived.  Daylight disappeared, her breath whooshing out of her under the weight of the pile.  Someone's toe raked her shoulder and her ribs protested the crush.  Just as she felt she'd gotten a grasp on the ball, the ref's voice broke through the bodies.  “RELEASE!  Let her go!”</p>
<p>Wynter broke her grip and tried to yank her arms back, whining and disoriented in the pile.  She had lost which way was up, if she was bleeding, or if someone's cleats had tangled her in hair.  But repeated drills and practices made her actions automatic: let the downed player go or else.</p>
<p>A knee landed on Wynter's back and slid hard over her ribs.  She gurgled, her breath caught halfway in her throat.  Grassy turf, sweat, and various scented hair sprays overwhelmed her sensitive werewolf nose, forcing the air out of her in a wheezing cough.  The sharp tang of iron meant someone nearby really was bleeding, but she couldn't pinpoint the source.</p>
<p>The whistle suddenly shrilled.  “TIME!  That's the game, ladies!”</p>
<p>The pro-Seabrook crowd in the stands whooped at the victory as the shove and push of bodies went slack.  As the pile of girls started to dissolve, opponents stood and helped one another to their feet now that the game was officially over.  The last few tacklers peeled off and revealed a panting Wynter at the bottom of the pile.  As she groaned, the blonde #3 who had faced her down earlier knelt beside her and the #6 flanker she'd driven into the turf.  “You girls okay?”</p>
<p>Wynter rolled onto her back and reached beneath a shoulder to try and shift the cramp in her ribs.  “Outstanding,” she said, then grunted again.  “My mortal enemies shall be torn limb from limb.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well, you won.  Your mortal enemies would like to keep their limbs for next time,” the #3 said gently.  She helped her teammate sit up and onto one knee.  “Hey uh, Wynette, was it?”</p>
<p>“Wynter,” she supplied, coughing again.  Of course she was ecstatic at the win and she wanted to join the random, off-key victory howls coming from the stands, but first she had to find her breath.  Also, some of those second-language howls were <em> wrong</em>.  She would hunt the perpetrators down later and issue so many swearwolf fines.</p>
<p>Okay, she couldn't be too badly hurt if she was working out pebble punishments.</p>
<p>“Cool.”  The blonde moved closer and she pressed a towel to Wynter's arm.  “You're cut.”</p>
<p>The adrenaline hadn't worn off yet, so she wasn't surprised she didn't feel it.  “Oh.  I'll, um, I'll heal.”  Her face stung, though.  “How bad is this?”  Pressing her fingers beneath one eye, she carefully probed to see if that elbow had broken her cheekbone.</p>
<p>“What, your face?  Probably as bad as mine.”  The other girl pushed the bangs of her pixie cut back, showing a red lump on her own forehead.  She grinned and fingered a split shoulder seam in her red Hellions jersey.  “Good game.  Are you going to do that thing again later?”</p>
<p>Nodding, Wynter sat up and waved off the approach of her team's medic.  She would heal quicker once she got her moonstone back on.  Jewellery wasn’t allowed on the field, so she had to remove it each time she played or practised.  The hour or so it was off didn't hurt.  “Yeah, we will.”  She took over dabbing the towel against her arm and examined the shallow scrape from a cleat.</p>
<p>“Sweet.  We'll wait.”  The blonde looked over at the nearby gaggle of girls from both teams that gathered in a group hug.  “You graduating, too?”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged.  She'd put off those feelings about that until, oh, right before the school year ended. “Maybe.”  Accepting the offered hand, she let the other girl pull her to her feet.</p>
<p>“You've only been at Seabrook a couple of years, though.”</p>
<p>“I know.”  Wynter's stomach squirmed as she tried not to think about it.  “But I don't know if I'm ready to go or not.”</p>
<p>“It's scary,” the blonde acknowledged, “but it'll be cool, too.  Onward and upward, ya know?  Come on, let's get in on the final hug.  Season's over.”</p>
<p>Once both teams finished congratulating each other, the Hellions and Mighty Shrimp headed down their respective tunnels to the changing rooms and showers.  Their injured players and replacements had already gone in ahead of them.</p>
<p>To a normal high schooler, a changing room smelled of dirty bodies, unwashed jerseys, sweaty rugby socks, and whatever mystery had mouldered away in that end-locker since last season.  To a werewolf, though, it was a treasure trove of information that everyone insisted on erasing before she could get more than a good sniff or two.</p>
<p>Wynter zipped into the celebrating room behind her team.  As she passed the opening to the communal shower, Penelope limped out.  She saw Wynter's glee, tightened her towel around her body and pushed the werewolf away, ignoring her pout and whine.  “No!  I just washed, I smell fruity, and I don't need you getting mud and wolf sweat on me!”</p>
<p>Some of her teammates laughed as they unlaced boots and rolled pink and green socks down their calves.  They all knew Wynter needed a fix, and so Emma whipped her Shrimps jersey over her head, balled it up, and lobbed it underhand.  “Take mine this time and leave the clean person alone.  Besides, I thought you didn't like her shampoo?”</p>
<p>“She changed it,” Wynter admitted, plucking the jersey out of midair before it landed on her head.  She shook it out and pressed it to her nose, inhaling greedily.  The rich scent of her teammate and extended pack mate filled her senses.  Comforted by that, she folded it neatly in two swift motions and flipped it back to Emma.  “Thanks.”</p>
<p>Retreating to her own locker, she opened the special wolf-made lock and stripped down quickly.  Even after two years, gym showers still amazed her as a room that made all the water she could ever want, and she enjoyed every chance to luxuriate in it.  It was a shame they forced her to use soap.</p>
<p>She shucked her jersey first, then sat down to unlace her cleats.  Peeling her socks off, she flipped them into her workout bag and waggled her toes gratefully at the freedom.  The rest of her clothes followed, and she picked up a towel and her shower shoes, then pushed past similarly-undressing teammates.</p>
<p>Once under the hot spray, Wynter discovered the many nicks she had picked up on the field by the pinpricks when she ran her washcloth down each leg.  The throbbing over her ribs would take some time to darken, and she could still feel the spot where someone's knuckles had dug in during a scrum.  Most of the bruises on her thighs from the last game had already faded, but she knew she would have new ones tomorrow.</p>
<p>As other girls came in and chose showerheads, Brittany took the spot next to her and glanced over before ducking beneath the water.  “Oof, you got a good one out there,” she said, wincing.  She gestured to her own bare cheek.  “You're going to have a black eye.  What does your pack say when you go home to the Forbidden Forest like that?”</p>
<p>“They wonder why I don't hit back even harder,” Wynter said, grinning.  “Not every werewolf in the Forest comes to Seabrook, so they don't understand we have rules.  That's hard for many of them.”  She turned again to face the water and lifted her chin to let it run down her throat.</p>
<p>Brittany was the other flanker, a sophomore, and a first-year player looking to eventually step up into a bigger role on the team.  She had arrived at Seabrook the year after the werewolves.  Wynter had done her best to help educate the newbie in wolf ways, but the taller brunette was still somewhat skittish about being sniffed too closely.  Sure, she would let Wynter put her head against her hips and use her as a battering ram in the maul, yet wouldn't let her guard down enough for a proper indoctrination in the etiquette of being pack mates.</p>
<p>Behind her, she could hear giggling and the slap of bare feet on the wet tile.  They had finished second in the division with today's win, behind the first-place Hellions.  Although that meant they would miss out on the regional tournament, the Seabrook Mighty Shrimp had put all the surrounding schools on notice that they were a serious force.</p>
<p>Even if they were about to lose their only werewolf on the team.</p>
<p>Wynter squeezed her eyes shut and kept washing.</p>
<p>She hadn't planned on even coming to the humans' settlement in the first place, let alone embracing them as Fellow Pack.  But now that she had so thoroughly immersed herself in their lives, she didn't want to leave.</p>
<p>Could she stay at this school forever?  Of course not, especially since her friends were on the cusp of graduating, too.  Maybe she would return to the Forest full time with Willa, Wyatt, and the other werewolves who'd joined as Seabrook originals.  Or would she venture out into the wider human world with Zed, Addison, Eliza, and whichever werewolf chose to go with them?</p>
<p>So many options, all of them scary.</p>
<p>“Wynter?”</p>
<p>She yipped and spun back around, almost catching Brittany across the chest with her sopping-wet hair.  “Whoa!  Sorry!”</p>
<p>Brittany waved it off.  “You looked, y'know, like you were about to scrub through your skin there for a second.  Are you all right?”  She tilted her head and her lightly-pencilled eyebrows drew together.  “That elbow didn't concuss you, did it?”</p>
<p>“Oh! No, it didn't,” Wynter rushed her answer to reassure her teammate.  “No, I'm fine.  I —”  What could she say?  She wanted to flop into a pile of her fellow wolves and be told that things would be fine?  That she wanted Addison to show up and do something really funny to distract her?  Or maybe someone could scratch her behind the ears?  Oooh, that sounded good, actually . . .</p>
<p>“Wynter!”</p>
<p>“Ack!”  She ducked her head, but this call had come from outside the showers.  “What?” she yelled back.</p>
<p>“Addison's here.  Are we doing the thing one last time?”</p>
<p>Wow.  She'd wished for Addison and now here she was!  Wynter resisted the temptation to speed out of the showers and greet the Great Unifier.  She had done that once before and nearly caused a pileup in the locker room.  Addison hadn't appreciated that, and neither had the half-dressed front line she'd stumbled into.  “Yes,” she shouted, “be right out!”</p>
<p>“That perked you up,” Brittany said, laughing.</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged, trying to contain her wriggling as she finished rinsing off.  “I owe her a lot.  And she cares so much!”  She wrung her hair out quickly, then hurried over to the pile of clean towels to dry and wrap herself up.  Addison was a cheerleader and she'd been in plenty of locker rooms, but Wynter felt almost wrong being naked in the presence of her fully-dressed friend.  One day perhaps Addison would bathe with her as an equal like her teammates, but that time hadn't yet come.</p>
<p>She paused at the threshold and waggled her fingers at Addison.  “Hey!  Great game, huh?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, glad you went out with a win,” her friend said, hands folded at her waist.  She had her cheer captain outfit on, with the pink jacket covering her shimmering tank top and pleated skirt.  Wynter liked that outfit, even though it lacked fur accents and the colours of the forest.  “Are you ready for this?”</p>
<p>“Oh, totally,” Wynter agreed.  Depowering herself so she could play with humans didn't last long, but she relished returning to her proper wolfish state after the game.</p>
<p>Her towel soared into the hamper at the end of her row and Wynter opened her locker.  She stepped into a pair of running underwear and pulled another sports bra over her head.  Eliza and some of the other girl zombies had taken her underwear shopping, but as pretty as it all had looked, Wynter was bustier than most of them and much more active.  She preferred not having her breasts smack her in the face as she dashed through her Forest, and the fancy underwear would just ride up her ass.</p>
<p>She tugged her black jeans up, stuffing a hand down one leg at a time to make sure the denim didn't roll the legs of her shorts up.  Breaking in new jeans was murder, since it meant soaking them in cold river water.  She would then lie on her back or hop around ridiculously while pulling the damp denim up her legs in a series of stubborn yanks.  Once the jeans dried, they would fit the mould of her body.  This was her last old pair that still properly stretched over both the swell of her muscular thighs and the curve of her rump, and she loved them.</p>
<p>Once she'd buttoned her jeans, she pulled a purple midriff shirt over her head, laced her boots up, and gathered everything else into her workout bag.  She crammed that down into the foot of her locker.  It could wait until after her one-on-one with the coach tomorrow.</p>
<p>As teammates started slamming their lockers closed, Wynter shrugged into her fawn vest and ran her fingers through her already-curling hair one last time, paying attention to her white streak.  Still damp, but that was fine.  She wouldn't put it back up in her signature tufts for a while yet.</p>
<p>Wynter took down her jewellery box to pass it over to Addison.  “Here.”  Looking past her, she saw that everyone else had finished, so she shut the door and clicked the lock.  “Okay.  I'm ready.”</p>
<p>The other Shrimp allowed her and Addison to pass by, then followed them in two lines back down the hallway and through the tunnel to the rugby pitch.  They did this ritual after every game, home and away.  On the road, another member of the squad filled in for Addison, but at home?  Wynter appreciated her friend for taking the time.</p>
<p>The Hillside Hellions waited for them at midfield, also in street clothes.  They had a long ride ahead of them back to their district, but none of them had gotten on the bus, and their families and supporters still lined the railings of the bleachers.</p>
<p>Wynter's teammates formed a semi-circle behind her as she stopped within a few paces of Hillside.  The blonde with the forehead bruise cast her a quick wink, and Wynter flashed a grin back at her.  This was the opposite of her pregame intimidation ritual, where she stood at midfield and someone passed her a large silver hoop.  The smoke from her hands — accompanied by a full-throated scream and the flex of her arms as she struck a power pose — was one of Seabrook's showiest tactics.</p>
<p>Now, though, she stood with her feet slightly apart with her hands at her sides and she shook her hair back.  Beside her, Addison opened the jewellery box.  First, the platinum rings went back onto Wynter's index fingers, each one slipped on slowly.  Addison then wrapped the fur and leather bands around Wynter's wrists, slipping each strap through its buckle and making sure they were tight.</p>
<p>Another girl joined them now to hold the box, as Addison needed both hands to delicately replace all of Wynter's golden earrings.  If she were in her werewolf state, the piercings would have healed over quickly, but as she was still depowered, they stayed open.  Wynter stood stock still as Addison's warm fingers worked over the lobe and outer edge of her ear, her gaze never leaving those of the humans who all watched her be fully restored.  Her chest rose and fell steadily, her friend's touch and breath on her neck a comforting part of the ritual.</p>
<p>Addison went around Wynter's back to do her other ear, her moves certain after so much practice.  One clip fastened onto the middle of Wynter's ear rim, another up high at the top, and finally one more through her lobe.  Addison's fingers plucked lightly, the sensation of the back being screwed into the ear stud's post making Wynter's eyelashes flutter.</p>
<p>A lone piece of jewellery lay in the box, and Addison stepped behind her and drew out the werewolf's moonstone necklace.  She lifted her hands over Wynter's head, letting it dangle at eye level, then lowered it to let it brush against her collarbone.  Fingers fumbled softly at the nape of her neck as Addison fastened the clip.</p>
<p>Fire rushed through Wynter's veins as her moonstone surged to life.  She went into the stalking crouch, shoulders back and arms up, her nails sharpened into claws.  Her eyes glowed yellow, her fangs descended, and the power howl burst from her throat.</p>
<p>“AAAAAWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!”</p>
<p>The spectators broke into gasps and applause.  Veterans of previous visits had spread word of Wynter's wolf status and nearly everyone was curious about her and her powers.  She always took the time to answer questions, knowing her own teammates listened as much as the other school's team did, and Addison and Willa had encouraged her not to hide any of it.  Her display had quickly become a cultural touchstone of Seabrook games and helped spread the understanding of werewolf culture.</p>
<p>Wynter lowered her head as the shine left her eyes, and she clasped her hands demurely in front of her.  She quirked a corner of her mouth in a grin.  “Ta-da.”</p>
<p>“Never too much,” Addison whispered from behind her, and Wynter could hear her smile.  She beamed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Got homework?”</p>
<p>Wynter lifted her head from her textbook and made a distressed noise, throwing her arms open to encompass the papers scattered around her nook.  “Yes!”</p>
<p>Willa leaned on the entryway, one shoulder propping up the thick curtain that separated Wynter's nook from the hall.  “Good.”  She peered closer.  “Ouch, did that happen during the game today?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes.”  Wynter didn't touch her blossoming bruise again.  She had held an ice-cold river-soaked patch over it for a while, but it had already darkened considerably.  Her swooping purple eyeshadow would disguise most of it, but tomorrow she would have quite the black eye.  “We won, though.”</p>
<p>“Good,” Willa repeated.  She smiled. “So, staying up all night again?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes!”  Wynter pumped a fist, then reconsidered as she saw her pack-mate's expression.  “Um, no?”  She was a werewolf, after all, and wolves Owned The Night.  Except she was also a Seabrook High student, which meant not falling asleep in class.  With her sports obligations and everything, it was often all she could do to not fall into her bunk by moonrise and sleep the night away.</p>
<p>Willa came all the way in, the curtain dropping down behind her.  The nook wasn't very large and Wynter had to tilt her head back to look up at Willa as she came closer.  “Are you overworking yourself?”</p>
<p>Was she?  Wynter considered things.  “Mm, no.”  Rugby season was over, and she had already done most of the hard classwork.  She had a few small independent projects to handle and wrestle with senior biology some more.  “Are you?” she asked.  </p>
<p>Willa was no longer responsible for the entire pack since the elders had recovered.  They had honoured her by making her the liaison between humans and werewolves, while her brother Wyatt now handled things with the zombie community as his reward for helping recover the Moonstone.  This meant staying at Seabrook High and keeping close friends like Wynter did, only in different homerooms.  The only time they all met at school was during lunch or a class in common.</p>
<p>“I've got it under control,” Willa admitted, examining her nails.</p>
<p>“Willa ...”  Hesitating, Wynter forged ahead with the question that had burrowed into her chest with worry over the last couple of weeks.  “How did we end up doing this?  We've been in school for two years now, a human school, and we're doing the things we said we wouldn't.”  She gingerly patted the white tuft of her hair she had rewound.  “We gave them that inch they wanted after all, didn't we?”</p>
<p>“Where did this come from?” Willa asked, settling into a crouch across from Wynter's makeshift desk.  Her dark violet dress rode up her thighs and she flipped her hair back.  “Honey, has this been bothering you?  For how long?”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged.  She'd looked back at her life at the end of this particular educational road, and maybe she'd stumbled into an emotional pothole.  “Last week.  I like it there with everyone, but I wondered what we’ll do next.  Do we come back here after we graduate and, I don't know, be werewolves?  Or do we follow our friends to whatever else is out there?”</p>
<p>“Oh, Wynter, come here.”  Willa gently pushed some of the papers aside so she wouldn't knock them to the ground and slipped past to sit on the fur blanket.  Wrapping an arm around Wynter's shoulders, she side-hugged her pack-mate.  “You know the Elders support us staying at Seabrook.  It’s for the good of the pack, but also to ensure we learn more about this world.  They've always said they want us to have the choices they didn't.  If that means leaving behind the ruins and trees to run faster and jump farther than any of them, we're allowed to choose that.”</p>
<p>Nodding, Wynter leaned into the embrace.  Even though Willa was no longer an alpha, her mere scent calmed Wynter's racing heart.  She looked around her tiny nook at the stick art she'd made herself, the glowing crystals, and the designs she'd painted on the walls.  This was home, first and foremost.  “We're still in this pack for life, yeah?” she asked softly.</p>
<p>“<em>Yes</em>.”  Willa's arm squeezed her closer and Wynter stifled a hiss at the sudden pressure on her bruised ribs.  The cuts had healed quickly, but the deeper hurts still needed a few days.  “No one can ever tell you otherwise, Wynter.  You've gone farther than all of us, out there on the sports field with the humans.  I've watched you show your wolf heart to all those strangers and hold their attention, and I celebrate you for it.”  She paused at Wynter's squirming, then relaxed her grip.  “It's not just your eye that's bruised, is it?”</p>
<p>Wynter shook her head.  She'd lost her breath temporarily and needed Willa to keep talking to cover the moment.</p>
<p>“I hope you crush those girls back,” Willa said, “in a sportswolflike manner, of course.”  She rubbed Wynter's shoulder and lightly tugged on her hair.  “You have many choices and that's confusing, I get it.  Wyatt and I are facing the same thing; we're not sure where we'll go, either.  But you don't have to decide anything alone.  Every wolf here, whether they're at Seabrook or not, whether they sleep all night or all day?  They're all here for you, like you're here for them.”</p>
<p>“Cool,” Wynter agreed.  She felt slightly better.  The tight little knot of worry she carried around inside her didn't quite dissolve, but it did feel a little looser.  Then she glanced down at her homework and groaned.  “I really should get this done.”<br/>
<br/>
Willa disagreed.  “You didn't make it back in time for supper, so you're going to take a break, come with me, and we'll hunt something down together.  Okay?  Your homework can wait until you've got some food inside you.”  She got up and motioned for Wynter to join her.  “What do you think, rabbit?”<br/>
<br/>
“Rabbit's good,” Wynter admitted, petting the fur wrapped around her right wrist.  Her first hunt had been a rabbit.  “What about Wyatt?  The three of us could bring down a deer!”</p>
<p>“Too much,” Willa said, with a laugh and a shake of her head.  “Do you think the three of us could carry it back here after we chased it halfway across the Forest?  You with those ribs?”<br/>
<br/>
Wynter shrugged as she reached for her vest hanging on the wall, then grunted when the ache shuddered up her side.  “Okay, good point.”</p>
<p>“If you're stuck on your homework later, you'll have to ask Wyatt for help.  I'll be in my own bunk, because we've all got big days tomorrow.”  Willa glanced at her.  “Does your coach really want another werewolf on the team next year?”</p>
<p>“It's hard work,” Wynter pointed out, shrugging into her vest.  “Coach Morrow doesn't want just a werewolf.  She wants someone she can teach.”  The coach had drilled her hard since her first scrum to disrupt her instincts and instead develop an understanding for the game.  By the time Wynter found her place on the team, her talents had taken over.  But oh, how she had suffered for the first few weeks until the lessons took!</p>
<p>Willa smiled.  “Good.  Because if we give her one, they'll have to earn their place.  A werewolf isn't a token, it's an honour.  You showed them that for two years.”  She pulled the curtain aside and stepped out into the hall.  She looked back over her shoulder.  “And you can tell your coach that tomorrow.”</p>
<p>With a grin, Wynter left her pile of homework behind and followed Willa out on the hunt.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Miss Barkowitz, do sit down.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter dumped her game bag and obediently sat across from Coach Morrow's desk.  The gym office was barely bigger than her nook in the Den, and she had to slide her chair to one side to close the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Did you cool down properly last night?” the coach asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes ma'am,” Wynter replied.  She'd stretched before she'd set off and walked briskly most of the way home to the Forbidden Forest.  Going any harder would have hurt her ribs even more and made it difficult to breathe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And did you get your protein?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter grinned and crossed her hands in her lap, fingers fondling the fur of her wristband as she remembered her successful rabbit hunt with Willa.  “Yes'm.”  Her coach didn't bother asking about the black eye or any of the other bruises on her body.  That was part of the game.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good.”  Coach Morrow leaned back in her chair, tilting it as she planted her sneakers on the desk.  She had short, dark hair, and was a former powerlifter.  Her arms were the size of Wynter's thighs and her thighs more like Wynter's waist.  “You improved a lot this year, Barkowitz:  Top of the team in tackles, second in forcing turnovers, always saw you hitting the rucks as quick as you could.”  She set the pen down and picked up a sheet.  “I left a good deal of your training up to you personally, given your living conditions, and I'm glad to see that panned out.  You got stronger in the scrum, worked well with your second line to push your front line harder.  Took care of yourself, too.  You made it through the year without getting hurt too badly.”  She dropped the paper to look at Wynter.  “How do you feel about the team's accomplishments this year?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Great progress from where we were last year,” Wynter began, spreading her hands apart.  “We've got speed, but we need strength to smash through the enemies' walls and crush their spirit when we </span>
  <em>
    <span>slam</span>
  </em>
  <span> the ball down behind their goal line!”  Her voice rose as she smacked a closed fist into her palm, then glanced up apologetically.  “Sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her coach smirked.  “I am going to miss that spunk, Barkowitz.  For what it's worth, I agree.  We are losing a few players this year to graduation, though.  So we'll have to reach deep into the junior team for reinforcements.  Then I'll have to break them of the sloppy habits they learned there.”  She sighed.  “Maybe some late bloomers in the student body will step up, but I'll be lucky to find another you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter raised a finger, but refrained from opening her mouth.  She couldn't promise another werewolf would take her place.  A quarter of them didn't go to Seabrook and others were still too young to attend school.  She wouldn't speak for the future of her pack.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Coach Morrow waved her off.  “I know, Wynter, I know.  Your pack does what it does.”  She raised an eyebrow.  “You know I'm your guidance counselor too, right?  We all spoke with your elders after Prawn and they agreed to encourage you to keep attending school.  If I want another werewolf to play for me, I'll ask them myself.”  She dropped the sheet of paper into a file folder and flipped through the rest.  “Now, back to you.  You kept your grades up.  For someone who didn't have a lot of formal education before, you understood the material quickly.  That'll help you if you choose to go to college.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“College?” Wynter echoed.  She'd heard about that from other humans and zombies at the school.  It sounded like more school with more people.  It also sounded expensive.  All the pebbles in the swearwolf jar might not be enough to cover the cost.  “What's it like?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We give you a general education here,” her coach explained, “but in college, you can find something special you're interested in and spend a few years learning that.  You can keep playing rugby too, if you try out and make the team there.  Several colleges have them.”  She pursed her lips and looked through a stack of files.  “In fact ... you might even qualify for a scholarship.  You played well enough this year.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter frowned, confused.  “Which is what?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The coach glanced up.  “They'll cover the cost of your tuition and other things if you play well and get good grades, Wynter.  Makes it easier to recruit talented young women as students if they've got some support right away.”  She held out a form.  “There are a few steps to cover so don't slack, Barkowitz.  Other girls are getting this same offer.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Folding the paper, Wynter put it in her back pocket.  She'd look at it during lunch.  “No, ma'am.  I won't slack.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you know what you’ll do after graduation?  It's okay if you don't.”  Her coach lifted her shoulders in a shrug and waved at her tiny office.  “You probably didn't plan on coming this far.  I didn't plan to end up a girls' gym teacher and rugby coach, but look at me now.  There's always surprises out there.”  She folded her hands again.  “I know you want to do whatever makes your pack proud of you, Wynter, but you're allowed to decide what makes you proud of yourself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter nodded.  Willa had said much the same thing the night before, and she was sure if she asked her other friends, they would also say something similar.  She was surrounded by people who would support her choice, whatever it was, and help her make it real.  Her heart warmed at the thought and her moonstone flared into a soft glow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There's that spark in you,” Coach Morrow said approvingly.  “What's on your mind, Wynter?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I've been nervous all week,” Wynter admitted, “wondering if I'm doing the right thing.  So far, everyone says yes, and they'll help me with whatever I decide.  I’m not sure what the right decision is for me.  I need more time.”  More time was good.  School would be over in a month, and then what?  What came after the end?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then you take that time, but don't waste it,” her coach advised her.  “Look at your options.  If something strikes your fancy, step toward it and start the process to make that dream a reality.  Obstacles are meant to be cleared and you know how to do that already.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter nodded.  She knew how to plant her feet and face down trouble.  She also knew how to move her feet and get to where the trouble would be.  She could deal with the end.  It had nearly come for her at Prawn two years before when her moonstone had almost gone out, but she had emerged from that re-energized.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The bell went overhead for the lunch period, and Wynter sat up straighter in her seat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nothing else, Barkowitz?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No ma’am.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Go on, then.  I'll see you in class soon enough.”  Coach Morrow slapped the desk.  “And if I catch you slinking back around these halls next year, there had better be a new team jersey on your back with a good number on it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter hopped out of her chair and grabbed up her bag of sweaty rugby clothes.  Popping the door open, she scurried out of her coach's office and back down the cavernous hallway towards the rest of the school.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cafeteria lay halfway between the gymnasium and the science labs, and even after two years Wynter couldn't believe all the space humans had made for themselves.  The Wolf Den was cozy in comparison, and came with much better scent directions.  The school insisted on keeping everything clean, which meant a werewolf had to literally rely on the student body for smell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wyatt, Eliza, and Willa were already at their usual table, and Wynter danced her way through the crowd to plop herself down beside them.  She dropped her bag and shed her letter jacket with the S over one breast.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whoa!  Couldn't you leave that in your locker?”  Eliza held her nose and leaned away from Wynter as her gym bag hit the bench.  “Cauliflower brain smell is one thing, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>puts me right off eating!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter looked puzzled as Wyatt and Willa both shrugged.  “We've smelled worse,” Wyatt said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You all need your noses checked.”  Eliza nudged the bag under the table with a battered leather boot.  “Keep it under there until we're done, then dump it before next period.  Otherwise you'll clear the classroom.”  She picked up her distressed red jacket and slid down to make room for Wynter.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Addison and Zed brought their trays over.  The two had matching outfits today, both in black jeans with her wearing a blue Cheer Captain sweater and him in his blue and white letter jacket.  “Their noses are fine,” Addison pointed out.  She sat down on Eliza's other side with Zed between them.  “They like different smells, that's all.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Willa smirked.  “Hey, I'm not the one at this table who stuck their head in the garbage can last week, Cheer Captain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I defend you, Willa, and this is how you repay me?” Addison complained.  She used her fork to pick at her salad.  “It didn't matter how far down my chemistry notes were, that was 40% of my mark in the trash and I needed it back.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zed popped a metal straw into his smoothie.  “How did you explain the stains?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh.  Passed them off as a chemical spill.”  She shrugged and resumed eating.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anyone else get called out by those college recruiters in the lobby?” Eliza asked.  She scowled and looked as if she would stab her lunch tray.  “I'm not going anywhere!  Seabrook's got a long list of things it needs to fix and I'm putting myself at the top.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wyatt raised an eyebrow.  “To be fixed?” he drawled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what I mean,” she shot back.  “They all want me to come to their campus, be amazed at their new buildings, and sign up for the fancy four-year program.  But they have no clue what it means to be a zombie.  If the town I've lived in my whole life doesn't meet my needs, how can they?  I've got to start here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The wolves exchanged looks.  Eliza's rants were always the highlight of lunch or after-school hangouts.  Willa nudged her brother with a knee beneath the table and he frowned at her, so Wynter took pity on him and turned to her friend.  “They want you to join them.  Isn't that more than Seabrook did?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eliza stared at her.  “They don't know me,” she said.  “I'm just another warm body to them.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, until they try to take your pulse and realize you're a zombie,” Addison said, sounding bored.  Eliza rounded on her and Wynter silently breathed out in relief.  She couldn't spar with Eliza like the others did, as much as they all enjoyed it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As Eliza and Addison bickered about the wants of a zombie revolutionary versus the world at large, Zed calmly drank his smoothie while letting them argue around him.  Wyatt and Willa motioned to Wynter, and she leaned over the table to huddle with them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did it go?” Willa asked.  “Did Coach Morrow ask for another werewolf?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She'll talk to the pack elders if she thinks anyone is worth taking on.  We don't have to worry about it.”  Wynter hated to leave her spot on the team empty, but it wasn't her decision.  She would no longer be a Mighty Shrimp by the end of next month.  “What did your counselors say?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh.”  Wyatt cocked his head to the side, eyes gleaming.  “They said I could apply myself better.  It's not like I ever worried about marks, though.  I've got a shop project to finish.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You might not worry,” Willa told him, emphasizing the </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>,  “but we've got a reputation to maintain.  If we're ever to fix things here between werewolves and humans —”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And zombies,” he added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“— then we have to be their equals in every way.”  Willa flashed her fangs.  “So you had better be ready for exams.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You three done?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all looked over to see Addison, Zed, and Eliza watching them.  Willa shrugged.  “Depends,” she said.  “Are you done?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eliza shrugged back as she crossed her arms.  “It's no fun sparring when we don't have an audience.”  She immediately uncrossed her arms again to pay attention to her lunch.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter slid back into her spot.  “Sorry, we were comparing notes from our guidance counselors.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, that's right,” Addison said.  She had somehow managed to finish her salad while still having an argument with Eliza.  As someone skilled at making food vanish, Wynter was impressed.  “You all had your graduation meetings.  What are you guys going to do after you leave?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wyatt shrugged.  “Stick around, maybe.  There's lots of work to do between our species.  If we get some standing in your community, it'll be easier to get along.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You hope,” Willa countered.  “The school wondered if I'd help the younger pack members get ready for school if they want to come here and learn.  We all arrived unprepared and pulled through, but our next cohort could be even better.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You never planned on staying once you got the moonstone,” Zed said, pointing at them with his straw.  “Now look at you.  Makes me glad I was student body president when you chose to come back.”  He sucked the end clean and went back to stirring his drink.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Willa smirked.  “Yes, you were a real influence on us.”  Then she relented and eased into a real smile.  “Think of it as thanks for getting us out of the cave-in with our moonstone intact.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, we'll make sure to give you credit when we speak at commencement,” Wyatt added.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter rolled her eyes.  Zed's insistence on them fitting in still irked, no matter how much she trimmed her claws, took baths, and slept at night.  The zombies were happy for a pat on the head and a seat at the table.  Meanwhile, the humans hadn't changed that much in response.  It still felt like a one-way path, even though it let her do things she discovered that she liked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What about you, Wynter?” Eliza asked.  “Got big plans for yourself?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked at the cafeteria door.  “You said they had college people out there?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Addison leaned forward across Zed.  “Wynter, are you thinking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>college</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter fidgeted, then reached for her back pocket and pulled out the folded form Coach Morrow had given her.  She laid it on the table in the middle of all their trays.  “Coach said they could help pay for me to go if there was a good rugby team.  Do you think they have that?”  She looked around at their wide eyes and felt the worry spring in her chest again.  “What?  What is it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Clasping her hands together around Zed's middle, Addison made a noise at such a pitch that the werewolves instinctively covered their ears.  “Awwwww!  Wynter's applying to college!” she squealed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zed patted her on the head and tried to unstick her fingers from around his waist.  “And what about you, Miss Cheer Captain?” he said.  “You can't let Wynter be the only one of us heading out.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She looked up at him.  “Hey, we've got a serious future in Seabrook.  Don't you want to stay and help build a town that's here for everyone?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It won't happen overnight,” he told her.  “We can go away for a couple of years and learn what we need to, then come home and keep on building.”  He turned to Wynter.  “Do you know what you'd take?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She lifted her hands helplessly.  “My clothes?” she asked.  She didn't understand why they all laughed at that.  How much stuff would she need at this new school? </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zed poked Addison to get her to stop giggling.  “Yes, it's funny.  Now stop laughing.  Wynter needs our help.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Zed meant what courses you'd take,” Eliza explained.  “College has many options and you should find something you really want to learn.  Seabrook doesn't have a college of its own, so you'd have to go out of town.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The werewolves looked worried.  “Would she have to leave the pack?” Wyatt asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably,” Addison said.  “Most campuses have dorms, though.  Like a bigger Den.  And if she's got a college that's close by, she can come home for visits.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You'd be the first werewolf to strike out on her own in decades,” Willa told Wynter.  “You would see things we've only heard about.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wide-eyed, Wynter nodded.  She had seen the pictures on the walls at Seabrook, in their textbooks, and on their friends' phones: scenes of oceans and tall mountains, and forests she could only dream of running through.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eliza unfolded the application form and studied it.  “This is fairly easy to put together,” she said.  “They want an essay about yourself, a couple of reference letters, and you send this application in.”  She gave it back to Wynter.  “You might get some offers from the college, too, if they're interested in you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Addison leaned around Zed, grinning.  “Guess we're heading out to the lobby to talk to recruiters now, huh?” she asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up,” Eliza said sweetly, reaching out to return Addison's fist-bump.  “I'll bet you they have no idea where they are.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure.  Loser buys the popcorn next movie night.”  Addison swung her backpack onto her shoulder and stood up.  “You can't mention zombies or werewolves before they do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Deal.”  Eliza got up as well.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wyatt sighed.  “Guess lunch is over.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter smirked at him.  “You don't have to come, you know.”  He would, though, because of Eliza.  She had him wrapped around her wrist like a Z-band.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah, if they're going to mess with your education, we need to keep an eye on them.”  Her pack-mates both got to their feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Zed waved at them.  “Have fun.”  Then he grunted as Addison snagged him beneath one arm.  “What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, big guy,” she said.  “You don't think your father would want to see you get into a good college?  Come be an inspiration for your little sister.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter scooped up her gym bag, flung her jacket over her shoulder, and followed the group, unsure if she was in control of her destiny any longer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eliza dropped back and bumped hips with her.  “Hey, congratulations,” she said quietly.  “You really earned this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It's not a sure thing yet,” Wynter said, grinning as she watched Eliza surreptitiously rub her side after bouncing off the hard curve of her hip.  Her own ribs protested the contact, but it was on her opposite side and she was a sturdy little wolf.  “I don't even know what this is.”  She still wasn't clear on what college meant, but she would hopefully find some answers from the people in the lobby.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, but it's important that you get the chance.  You can be the example for the next class of werewolves that know what they want.  They can follow you.”  Eliza pointed to Zed ahead of them.  “Tall, green and jocko there became a symbol for all of us, remember?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wynter grimaced.  “I'm not a symbol, though.” She tapped her thick nails against the strap of her gym bag.  “This might be too much for me.”</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“You'll do fine.”  Patting her shoulder, Eliza plucked at the jacket draped there.  “Here, put it on.  If you're trying for a sports scholarship, showing your letter helps.”  She recoiled as Wynter tried to hand her the gym bag to free up an arm, but then graciously gave in.  Holding it out at arm's length by her fingertips, she impatiently tapped her foot for the few seconds it took Wynter to slip into the jacket.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Settling into the fit, she reshouldered her bag and fell in behind her extended pack as they headed for the lobby.  “You should think about it too,” she offered.  “If they want me for sports, they would definitely want you for your brains.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Eliza whirled with her finger pointed and mouth open, then she shut it again.  “Not the point,” she finally said.  “I don't fit in.  I make changes and I tear down institutions.  What college would want me making trouble on their campus?”  She slipped an arm through Wynter's elbow.  “This isn't about me, either.  It's about you and your future.  Now, no tipping the recruiters off.  I'm going to win this bet!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And they did this last year?” Wynter asked.</p>
<p>Addison nodded.  “Every year.”</p>
<p>“Huh.”  Standing with everyone beneath the overhang at the back, Wynter gazed at the banners and tables filling the school's front lobby.  Students milled around, talking to people behind the tables, and walking away with large folders.</p>
<p>She really needed to come in the front doors more often.</p>
<p>“Where should we start?” Eliza asked from the other end of the line.  “It's your call, Wynter.”</p>
<p>Slipping into the flow of the crowd, Wynter paid attention to the pictures on the displays.  The others trailed after her, occasionally stopping to examine promotional swag on a table or poke one another about something that caught their interest.  Eliza's gaze kept flicking over the names of the schools and Wynter saw her trail her fingertips wistfully over a glossy picture of a sprawling green campus.</p>
<p>The zombie girl might rage against everything she felt was unfair, but she did it from a very big heart.  She would have made an excellent werewolf,  Wynter decided.  Then she saw the image she wanted over someone's shoulder and headed in that direction.</p>
<p>A human behind the Pine Valley College table leaned forward as they all arrived.  His name tag read '<em>Craig</em>'.  He raised his eyebrows at their group, but his attention went to Addison first.  “Hey, Cheer Captain, was wondering if we'd be seeing you.”</p>
<p>“Why me?” she asked.</p>
<p>He waved around the lobby.  “Seabrook's a cheer machine, everyone knows that.  Interested in applying?  We've had some good runs with the national cheer competitions.”</p>
<p>Addison smiled, but she bent over the pile of burgundy sweaters on the table and flipped through the collar tags.  Finding the size she wanted, she picked up the sweater with PINE VALLEY on the chest in forest green and turned around.  “What do you think?” she asked, holding it up against Wynter's body.  “It's like a darker version of our colours.”</p>
<p>Wynter smiled, but her interest lay beyond simple things like school colours.  “Hi,” she chirped, waving at Craig.  “You've got a rugby picture on your display back there.  How good is your team?”</p>
<p>He looked back at the banner, then at her.  “Pine's pretty good.  We topped our division in the North East against seven other teams during season play, then got through to the semi-finals before we lost to Three Rivers.”  His gaze dropped down to her legs and Wynter deliberately widened her stance to show off her thighs.  “You play, huh?”</p>
<p>“Openside Flanker,” she said.  “I'd like to keep playing, but I don't know what courses I want.”  Which was true.</p>
<p>Craig shrugged and reached for a booklet to hand her.  “Not unusual.  Some people come into college not knowing what they want, so we have general programs that cover a bunch of topics.  General arts degrees are popular if you don't have the right high school credits."</p>
<p>Wynter took it and flipped through the glossy pages.  Willa and Wyatt looked over her shoulder, the three of them reading about the courses.</p>
<p>“Huh,” Wyatt commented.  Privately, Wynter agreed with everything unsaid in that short breath.</p>
<p>“That's a lot of options,” said Willa.  Her palm flattened across the small of Wynter's back, supporting her with her touch.  “You should take some time to decide.  No way could you pick something out right now.”</p>
<p>She nodded and looked up to where Addison and Eliza were doing their best to subtly win their bet against each other.  Craig was answering their questions, but Addison seemed frustrated.  Obviously she hadn't made him say the word ‘<em> zombie </em>’ yet.</p>
<p>Wynter found a full-page spread of the Pine Valley campus and her breath caught at the sight of the buildings and hills.  Everything looked so green!  She turned pages to search for their rugby pitch and paused when she saw the sports field.  It appeared rather small compared to the football stadium displayed on the opposite page.  Could she find a place for herself there?</p>
<p>“Hey, Number 7!”</p>
<p>Her head came up and Wynter looked to where a moppish redhead towered over the other women at her table.  She wore a red and white team jersey with a crest in the middle and had somehow found black and mesh yoga pants long enough to fit her legs.  When she saw she had Wynter's attention, a smile blossomed over her freckled face and she gestured.  “Yeah. Come on over, short stack.”</p>
<p>Oh, here they went with the size comments.  Squaring her shoulders, Wynter handed her booklet to Willa and stomped towards the table that declared it was “Wildwood College For Women”.  The redhead probably played basketball or field hockey, but she had obviously recognized Wynter's position on the team.  That alone sparked her curiosity.</p>
<p>Planting herself in front of the table, Wynter glowered up at the grinning woman.  She smelled of a mixture of strawberry shampoo and a sharp body liniment; the latter meant she was rehabbing an injury.  “I've knocked down bigger trees than you, redwood,” Wynter fired back.</p>
<p>“And I could step right over you on the field without breaking stride,” the redhead retorted.  “Although I'm sure you would bite a chunk out of my calf if I tried.”  She sat down again and held out her hand.  “I'm Catherine Ferguson.  And you're Wynter Barkowitz.  I was told to look for you, and I totally recognized that black eye even under the makeup.”</p>
<p>Wynter shook hands cautiously, feeling the rough patch on Catherine's palm and the slice between her thumb and index finger.  She had some scars of her own on that big body.  “Who told you that?”</p>
<p>“We recruited at Hillside High School yesterday.”  Catherine said, smiling with very white teeth.  “And since we were due here today, we came down in the afternoon and took in the game between your schools.  Gave us a chance to see some of the Hellions play.  And then you came out with your fingers still smoking and you started smoking those girls.”  She quirked one side of her mouth.  “So I asked around a little.”</p>
<p>Willa and Wyatt had caught up with her by this point, flanking her like she was in a new ruck.  Wynter felt them at her back and her moonstone glowed as she sensed their power building.  “Stand down,” she muttered.  She knew why they were upset.  Only other pack members got to give them grief and Catherine was decidedly non-pack, but Wynter understood trash talk and knew when to get angry about it.  This was not the time.</p>
<p>Willa repressed a snarl and kept herself tight to Wynter's shoulder.</p>
<p>“Wow, you really are a werewolf,” Catherine said, her eyes widening at the lengthening of their fangs.  “I thought that thing after the game was only for show.  Cool.”  She looked around at the other women who'd inched their chairs back from Willa's disdain.  “Wynter, we might have a place for you at Wildwood, if you choose to keep on playing.  There's a big turnover on the rugby team coming up and we could use solid replacements.  You'd have to compete for the spot because we've got prospects from all over, but if you do well, you could have nearly everything covered by scholarship.”</p>
<p>Again with that word.  Wynter tapped her back pocket where she still had her application form.  “Tell me more,” she said.</p>
<p>Eliza and Addison arrived at that point, Zed in tow.  “What'd we miss?” Addison asked.</p>
<p>“Hey, you ever considered an all-women's school, ladies?”  Catherine held out brochures to both girls.  “You could keep on being as awesome as you are here.”</p>
<p>Addison rolled her eyes and wrapped her arm around Zed's waist.  “I've got awesome already,” she said.  “And Eliza isn't big on segregation.”  She shot a smug look at her friend, who stuck her tongue out in response.</p>
<p>Wynter's ears metaphorically perked, though.  She had lived in the pack for so long, side-by-side with boys and men, that she couldn't help but wonder what an all-women's school was like.</p>
<p>“Anyway,” Catherine came back to her, “you should consider us.  We're pretty close by, so if you don't want to be away from your pack for too long, you can come home on long weekends and holidays.”  She looked over at the other table with Craig.  “Pine Valley's further away and you won't get the same boost in rugby that we can give you.  Plus you can take charge of things in class.”  She popped a brochure and a course catalogue into another folder and pressed it into Wynter's hands.  “Come visit our campus sometime.  Dates for tours are inside.  And if I see you out there, I'll try not to trip over you.”</p>
<p>“Watch where you step or you'll stub your toe.”  Wynter flashed her fangs in a smile.</p>
<p>Catherine tugged the collar of her jersey down to show a lump on her collarbone from an earlier fracture.  “We both know what it's like to run into a rock, don't we?”</p>
<p>Wynter responded by lifting the edge of her midriff shirt to show the bruise beneath her bra.  It had already begun to turn blue around the edges as she healed.  It looked as if they spoke the same language, after all.  “Thanks for the advice.”</p>
<p>“Don't wait too long!” Catherine called as the group turned away.  “I want you underfoot on my turf as soon as possible!”</p>
<p>Addison giggled.  “Okay, that was some serious posturing there.  What got into you two?”</p>
<p>“Jocks,” Eliza said with a sigh.  “Always having to outdo each other.”</p>
<p>“I'm standing right here,” complained Zed.</p>
<p>She glowered at him.  “You and Bucky at the student debate last year,” she reminded him.</p>
<p>Zed surrendered.  “I'll keep standing right here, how about that?”</p>
<p>“By the way,” Addison said, dodging around another group of students gathered around a display, “she knew Wynter was a werewolf.  I win the bet!”  She whooped and hopped in the air.</p>
<p>Eliza turned a look of betrayal on Wynter.</p>
<p>Wyatt came to her rescue.  “She was at the game yesterday.  They told her there,” he said.</p>
<p>Tossing up her hands, Eliza conceded.  “Fine.  Popcorn on me next movie night.  But I'm not paying extra if anyone wants gummi bears.”  She nudged Wynter before she could start bouncing at the thought of gummi bears.  “She wanted you.  That's good.”</p>
<p>Wynter glanced at her innocently.  “I have that effect on humans.  It's a curse.”  She fluttered her eyelashes.</p>
<p>Wyatt chortled and dodged out of reach before Eliza smacked him.</p>
<p>“I'd never thought of an all-women's school,” Addison said, her arms suddenly full of booklets as she scooped another one off the next table they passed.  She seemed to have taken the whole college thing to heart more than the others.  Wynter almost felt sorry for Zed in the coming days if Addison approached this with her usual intensity.  “Is that going to be your thing, Wynter?”</p>
<p>“Don't know,” she said, watching Willa peel off from their little pack to approach a table.  “I'll have to see.”</p>
<p>After nearly a full loop around the lobby, she hadn't seen anything else that called to her.  If she ended up anywhere, it would be a place that took her seriously.  Despite Catherine's attempts to bust her chops, she was flattered that the redhead knew what she could do.</p>
<p>The warning bell rang for next classes, and the lobby began emptying.  After a quick round of assurances that she would keep everyone abreast of her decision, Wynter headed for her locker to drop her gym bag off.  She only took a few steps down the hallway when she heard someone call for her again.</p>
<p>“Wynter!”</p>
<p>Turning, she saw Catherine jogging towards her.  Dear sweet wolf pelts, that woman would bump her head on the ceiling if she ever wore heels.  “What, did you drop your keys and need someone closer to the ground to find them?”</p>
<p>The redhead flapped a hand, looking like she couldn't hold in her laughter.  “Put your hackles down, Five-by-Thighs.  I forgot to mention something back there.  If you're applying for the scholarship, you'll need your medical file.  Women try to hide old injuries until they get on the field, and it's a red flag if they aren't healed properly.  Your own doctor can send the forms as part of your application package.”</p>
<p>Wynter cocked her head.  “My own doctor?”  Her pack had a healer, whose own moonstone boosted the other werewolves' stones to help them heal faster, but that was about it.  They didn't keep records, either.</p>
<p>“Oh, you don't have one?”  Catherine shrugged.  “Well, you can make an appointment with ours on campus.  They'll poke you a bit, make sure you're up on your shots, and count how many bones you've broken out there.”</p>
<p>Wynter frowned.  None of that sounded like it would help her.  “Will they know I'm a werewolf?”</p>
<p>“Oooh, right.  The wolf thing.”  Catherine snapped her fingers.  “How about I tell the Vet Med grads to stand by instead?  Look, do what you need to, but get it done.  I've got to get ready for the next group coming through.”  She turned and headed back towards the lobby.  “Don't duck out on us, Barkowitz.  I get a bounty for the best players I recruit, and I've seen you tackle.  You'll join Wildwood, or I'll come back to find out the reason why.”</p>
<p>Wynter watched her saunter off.  Then the second bell went off, making her yelp and bolt for her next class.  Halfway through her turn, she stumbled to a halt and raced back towards her locker to drop off her bag.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wynter narrowed her eyes as she read the information on the screen.  “Let's see.  Name ...”</p>
<p>Zed leaned over the top of the computer monitor.  “Wynter, if that part's giving you trouble, you might not be ready for college.”</p>
<p>She scowled at him and flexed her claws.  “I haven't shredded you yet because I like Addison, but I still have a month to go before graduation.”  She returned to her typing as she filled in lines on her application, her sharp nails clacking on the keys.</p>
<p>Wyatt rested his chin on his arms at a table beside her, studying her course catalogue.  None of the other werewolves would admit it, but they were curious at this new world of seemingly limitless learning.  Across from him, Eliza and Willa shared a pile of library books, both searching for one last source on their final social science projects.  Knowing them, both were looking for the most controversial opinion available for their respective papers. </p>
<p>“Hey, Willa?”  Wynter leaned back so she didn't have to raise her voice in the library.  “What should I put for the mailing address?”</p>
<p>Willa glanced up.  “We have a box at the post office, courtesy of the town of Seabrook.  Number 74.”</p>
<p>“Mailmen don't like making deliveries to the Forbidden Forest,” Wyatt added.  “Can't imagine why.”</p>
<p>Wynter added in her phone number at the Den.  The town and the werewolf pack had come to an agreement on the sort of utilities they could avail themselves of in case of emergency.  Since their moonstones would short out most electronic phones, Seabrook had dug into the town warehouse and produced an old rotary dial telephone for them.  Some disused poles and phone lines had been renovated and activated for their area of the Forest.</p>
<p>“How many times have you used the word 'wolf' in there so far?” Eliza asked.</p>
<p>“A few.”  Wynter hadn't stopped to count.  Wolf was her first language, as well as the language she spoke first at home.  She only knew a little bit of conversational Zombie.  Werewolf was also the group she identified most strongly with.  “Okay, next ... 'Possible Area of Academic Concentration',” she read out carefully, then made a face and glanced around. "Uhm?"</p>
<p>Wyatt set the booklet down.  “Did you decide?  You've only had those course catalogues for a few days, so it's okay if you haven't; you can come back to it.”</p>
<p>She had looked them over pretty thoroughly while nestled in her bunk, reading and rereading the course descriptions in the evening.  Wildwood had so many choices, but eventually Wynter had felt drawn to one particular area.  “Yeah,” she said.  “I'm thinking about Environmental Studies.”</p>
<p>Eliza looked impressed.  “Oh yeah, I can see that.”</p>
<p>“It's mostly outdoor work.”  Wynter felt compelled to explain her choice to everyone, so she turned around in her seat.  “I can spend my time actually digging my claws into the ground and their campus woods are a part of the program, too.  They use it for projects and stuff all the time.  It's like, made for me! ”</p>
<p>“It totally is,” agreed Willa.  She smiled.  “I think it's a good choice, Wynter.”</p>
<p>“Me too,” said Addison.  She had taken over Zed's abandoned workstation, doing something to his paper.  “You have a head start with senior biology already, so why not take something to make your Forest even better?”  She frowned at something and clicked the mouse.  “Yeah, we're not keeping <em>that</em>.”</p>
<p>As Zed tried to argue with her, Eliza reached across the table to poke Wynter's shoulder with a finger.  “Be sure to mention that you'll be the first member of your, uh, pack to go to college. The application board will like that.  Do you have your letters of recommendation yet?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  “Yep.  Coach Morrow said she would write one, and Mr. Westlake in the Science Department offered to do the other.”</p>
<p>“I can see it now. <em> 'To Whom It May Concern: I first met Wynter Barkowitz when she invaded my high school with her werewolf pack and threatened to gut the student body in splatters of blood.' </em>”  Eliza looked around at everyone's expressions.  “What, too much?”</p>
<p>Wyatt raised an eyebrow.  “You asked her just so you could set up that joke, didn't you?”</p>
<p>“Mayyyybe?” Eliza sing-songed.  She stole his booklet and flapped it at him.  “And what about you?  Are you thinking about Pine Valley?”</p>
<p>“Maybe?” he echoed, covering his head to protect himself from senseless paper cuts.  “I mean, not right away.  We have to send Wynter to Wildwood first, and even if she gets a full scholarship, she still has to afford other things.  There's only so many pebbles in the Swearwolf Jar.”</p>
<p>From the corner of her eye, Wynter saw Addison slap herself in the face with a palm.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you had better get that scholarship, girl.”  Eliza clucked her tongue.  “Have you filled out those forms yet?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  “First thing I did.”  She ticked off items on her fingers.  “Wrote my essay, got Coach Morrow to do my letter of support, put in a picture of me in full kit ...”</p>
<p>“Got your medical records?” prompted Addison.  “If you haven't had a physical in a while, you should get one done.  They'll want to know you're healthy.”</p>
<p>Wynter turned back around to face her computer without answering.</p>
<p>She heard Addison's chair scrape back and could smell the change in her attitude as she moved closer.  “Wynter?”</p>
<p>She resumed typing, paying rapt attention to the part of the application she was filling out.  “What would you say were my greatest achievements in the last couple years?”</p>
<p>Addison's hand rested on her shoulder.  “Wynter, when was the last time you saw a doctor?”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged, feeling her friend's hand slip away.  “I saw the healer for my cheek.  It's fine.  I'm fine.  I'm fit, hale, and hearty.”  She was also babbling, that was what she was doing.</p>
<p>Willa let her off the hook.  “We don't go to human doctors,” she said, making it sound like a noble stand, even though it actually sounded ridiculous.  “None of us.”</p>
<p>Eliza waggled her hand in an ambivalent gesture.  “Don't blame you.”</p>
<p>“Eliza!” Addison yipped, missing the librarian's sudden narrow-eyed glare in their direction.  “Willa, <em> why </em>?”  Silence greeted her, all three werewolves keeping their gaze down.  “Don't make me drag Wyatt out into the hallway and sit on him until he tells me.”</p>
<p>“Hey, don't threaten me with a good time,” he drawled, lifting his head.  “But the truth is, Addison ... we're afraid.”</p>
<p>Human and zombies exchanged looks.  “I thought werewolves weren't afraid of anything,” said Zed.</p>
<p>“Except silver,” Eliza added.</p>
<p>Wynter refrained from listing some other things they feared, since they were mostly diseases and that would make Addison's case for her.  “We grew up with fire pit stories,” she said.  “Warnings from the elders about getting too close to the human population.  They said if we were ever caught by humans, their doctors would do experiments on us.”<br/>
<br/>
“Lots of gory details,” Wyatt agreed, “depending on who told the story.  They liked to frighten us so we wouldn't stray when we were young.”</p>
<p>“It's why we stayed hidden for so long.”  Willa met Addison's eyes.  “Now, you might say your doctors are perfectly fine, but what happens when they find out we're werewolves?  How can we trust they won't call in other doctors, ones with sharper tools?  They might like to cut us open and see what makes us different from you.”</p>
<p>Addison looked somewhat lost, and she turned to her zombie friends.  “A little help here, please?”</p>
<p>“Who, us?” Eliza said.  “You should ask my grandmother how often she got poked and prodded after the power plant accident.”  She lifted her chin and drew a line down her breastbone.  “The doctors tried to figure out how undead we were.  Sometimes they dug a little too deep.  So some zombie families resent the medical profession.  They didn't remember their Oath to 'do no harm'.”  She blinked and began writing something down.  “Oooh, that's the topic I was looking for!”</p>
<p>Going into a crouch, Addison brushed the fur on Wynter's wristband.  “Okay, well.  What if I show you there's nothing to worry about?”</p>
<p>Eliza stopped scribbling, reached into a pocket, and took her phone out, holding it by the edges as she unlocked it.  “Oh, I need a laugh.  Please, <em> please </em> ask her to play doctor with you, Wynter.  And if you could speak slowly and clearly, I'd really appreciate it.”</p>
<p>Zed started towards her, but Willa snatched Eliza's phone first.  “Funny, yes,” she said firmly, “but not the right time for it.”  She changed her tone.  “Addison, you might already know this since your mother's the mayor.  Our agreement with the city includes the Pack all being medically cleared.  We've been delaying that issue up until now because of our fear of your doctors.  Even the small things are a problem.  If you could take Wynter through the basics, it would probably help.”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  “Once they see I've done it, the pack will follow.”  She sighed to herself.  When had she become such a trailblazer?  First to look outside the pack for her education, and now the first to see a human doctor.  What else could she get herself into?  And why was it always Addison's job to make her feel better?</p>
<p>Well, because she was the Great Unifier, that was why.  Without her, werewolves and zombies would still have fingers wrapped around chain links, watching as the human world rolled along oblivious to those outside the fence.</p>
<p>“Tell you what,” Addison said.  She curled her fingers into Wynter's wristband and gave it a little tug.  “Give me a day or two to put something together.  Then, if you're comfortable with how I do it, we'll make a real appointment.  Okay?”  At Wynter's little nod, she glanced at the others.  “Deal?”</p>
<p>“Of course,” said Willa.  “We've trusted you before.  It's no different this time.”</p>
<p>Addison effortlessly popped back up to her feet like a good Cheer Captain.  “Zed, was it the same in your family?”</p>
<p>He moved his shoulders around, crossing and uncrossing his arms.  “No, not like it was for Eliza's.  But we all knew someone it happened to.”  Seeing the look on her face, he reached out for her.  “No, don't apologize,  you didn't know.  There's nothing you can do to change it, okay?”</p>
<p>“She feels a lot for a human,” Willa said, looking at her brother.</p>
<p>Wyatt grunted in agreement.  “It's why we like her.”  He peeked over at Eliza, who had once again paused in her writing to stare wide-eyed at him.  “I meant 'you'.  All of you.”</p>
<p>Eliza silently pointed two fingers at her eyes, then back at him before returning to writing her paper.</p>
<p>As Wynter turned her attention back to her application, Addison leaned over her.  “It's okay,” Addison murmured in her ear.  “One less werewolf secret to hurt us, yeah?”</p>
<p>Wynter glanced up.  As a human, Addison wasn't privy to a good deal of werewolf lore.  But using one trick after another, she still found ways to knock down the barriers between their species.  Wynter appreciated it when she didn't have to lie to her.  “Yeah,” she agreed.</p>
<p>“Good girl,” Addison whispered, giving her arm one last soft squeeze.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Friday night, Wynter bounded up the steps of Addison's home with an overnight bag over her shoulder.  She clutched the note she had found in her locker earlier that day.  Addison's parents had gone weekend antique-hunting, or playing artisanal croquet, or something.  Whatever it was adult humans did when they took days off from raising their young.  So she had asked Wynter to come and spend the night so they could, as Eliza so snarkily put it, 'play doctor' together.</p>
<p>Wynter couldn't understand why everyone found that so funny.</p>
<p>She pressed her palm against the front door where Wyatt had once clawed a full set of gouges down through the wood.  Of course the humans had painted it over again, but she could feel his mark still lurking there.  It remained a warning to anyone not of their pack that this house was special and would be defended in a fight.</p>
<p>Before she could be a civilized wolf and ring the doorbell, her ears picked up the thumping of Addison's feet as her friend loudly slithered down the carpeted stairs in a rush of socks.  Her footsteps stumbled briefly when they hit the bottom, slid across the wooden floor, and ended with the shadow of her body thudding into the frame.</p>
<p>“Ow,” came a pained comment through the door.  Then the lock clicked and Addison opened the door with her usual big smile.  She wore a bright green tank top and white leggings, her hair all tousled.  “I'm fine.  Almost lost control, that's all.  Dad must have waxed the floor before he left.”  She stood aside.  “First time you've ever come here for the whole night.”</p>
<p>Wynter stepped into the foyer.  “Well,” she said, holding up the note, “you did make an appointment for me.”  </p>
<p>Addison grinned, shutting the door behind her. “So I did.  And the doctor will see you shortly.  Do you want anything first?”</p>
<p>She shook her head.  “The team had an event after school and I ate there.”</p>
<p>“What do they think about you trying for a scholarship at Wildwood?”</p>
<p>“Oh, they all think Wildwood is a good first choice.”  Wynter dropped her bag and knelt down to unlace her boots.  Since Addison was in stockinged feet, she would be a good guest and match her.  “A couple of the girls said they're also applying to go there.  So I might have some competition.”</p>
<p>“You're going to have competition no matter what,” said Addison.  “Wildwood has a couple thousand students.  A few of them will want to play rugby, too.”  She waited as Wynter set her boots upright beside the door.  “Now, are you comfortable doing this upstairs?  I thought about using the basement, but that felt a bit too dungeon-y.  Plus we'd be surrounded by boxes of holiday decorations and Dad's dusty old exercise equipment.”</p>
<p>Wynter slung her bag onto her back again.  “Yeah.  Upstairs, then.”  She had been over to the house a few times as part of study groups or birthdays, and she never tired of marvelling at all the space the family had.  Everything was so clean too!  The smell of takeout wafted from the kitchen.  Obviously while her parents were away, Addison had indulged.</p>
<p>“Okay, so,” Addison said, hopping up the last step to the landing, “I borrowed some stuff from a friend who does online videos.  She records mock checkups for teaching, and she gave me a quick breakdown of the stuff she covers.  I kind of had to promise that I'd be a guest on her channel in return for her loaning it to me.”</p>
<p>“You won't mind doing that?” Wynter asked, padding up behind her.</p>
<p>She opened the door to her bedroom.  “Hey, if she lets me get in on the scalp-check series, I'd pay her for the privilege.  I hid my real hair for so long and had to miss out on all the salon visits.  It's torture when you like having your hair played with.”</p>
<p>“Ooooh, does Zed know that about you?”  Wynter smirked.</p>
<p>“No, you bad wolf.”  Addison swatted at her and she dodged, giggling.  “It's a confidence that I'm telling you in this safe space.  Now, sit down and let's figure out what we're doing.”</p>
<p>Wynter obediently sat in the chair by the vanity table and let Addison sit cross-legged on her own bed.  She wouldn't be so presumptuous as to take a pack-mate's bunk from them.</p>
<p>“Despite what your fire pit stories say,” Addison began, “getting a physical now is mostly making sure you're in good shape.  The doctor will check all your senses, take your blood pressure, and ask you a few questions.  You might have to get your shots, although I'm sure no one knows what diseases you can and can't catch from us.  It isn't a time for secrets, Wynter.  I know you value them, but doctors need to know so they can help.  It's like telling the trainer on the field what hurts, okay?”</p>
<p>She nodded, screwing up her face.  “I get it,” she said, “but someone said they'll take my blood, not my blood pressure.”</p>
<p>Addison tilted her head.  “Yeah, they'll do both.  It'll tell them if there's anything wrong.  It's very safe and barely hurts.  Are you afraid of needles?”</p>
<p>“I ... don't know.”  Wynter had tussled with other werewolves and had a few accidental clawings as a younger wolf, so it wasn't like she was scared of sharp objects.  “Some of the pack might be.”</p>
<p>“Well, if you show them it's nothing to worry about, they'll be braver.”  Addison smiled.</p>
<p>Wynter wrapped her arm around the back of the chair and kicked one leg.  “It's kind of like dealing with a herd of pups for you, isn't it?”</p>
<p>Addison giggled, the warmth of her laughter calming Wynter's nerves.  “It is!  I keep thinking that, but I felt it would be rude to say out loud.”  She sighed and worked her shoulders.  “How do you deal with so much new stuff all the time?”</p>
<p>“I tell myself I already beat the toughest obstacle in my life, which was recovering the moonstone,” said Wynter.  “Everything after that doesn't compare.  But I didn't think I'd wake up one morning and become a lone wolf.”  She looked down and fingered her moonstone.  “Because that's what I'll be if I go to Wildwood.  I won't have the pack with me.  The team will split up and go their own ways, Wyatt and Willa won't come with me to college, and you and Eliza have your own lives.  Zed, well.”  She snorted.  “He's your problem.”</p>
<p>“Yes, he is.”  Addison folded her hands and rested her elbows on her knees.  “A doctor's also there to listen, Wynter.  You can tell them things that bother you, whether it's physical or mental.  And the college will have help if you're lonely.  When you make the team there, you'll have a new pack at your back.”</p>
<p>“<em>If</em> I make the team,” Wynter corrected her.  “I get you're cheering me on because that's what you do, but like you said, I'll have competition.”</p>
<p>Slapping her thighs, Addison slid off the end of her bed.  “We’ll worry about that later, okay?  Let's get you checked out.”  She motioned to her shoulders.  “Um, vest and shirt off, I guess?  I've seen you in your sports bras before.”</p>
<p>Wynter slipped her vest off and hung it over the chair.  Normally she would cross her arms to strip her shirt off, but her bruise still pulled at her, so she slipped one arm in at a time and carefully wriggled out of her violet top.  “Wristbands, too?” she asked.</p>
<p>Addison looked up from unzipping a small fabric bag of tools.  “Please, yes.  You can leave your moonstone on.”  She draped a stethoscope around her neck.  That item Wynter recognized.  She had dared to creep close to the school doctor's office late in her first year and peeked around the corner, ready to dodge back at the first sign of hanging straps or dark, blood-crusted knives.  Instead, she had seen a comfortable little office with lots of intriguing tools, but she had determined it was even more of a trap to be avoided.</p>
<p>She undid all of her bands and laid them on the vanity, fluffing her hair a little as she watched Addison mutter to herself.  “Should I call you Doctor Wells?”</p>
<p>Addison gave a startled little laugh and spun around.  “Do you want that?  Would it help if I got into character?”  She looked around.  “I don't have a white coat or anything to pretend with.”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged.  “Maybe if we pretend it's after a game?  You're kinda like a trainer.”</p>
<p>“Yes, good.  Think of me as a trainer.  You're used to them.”  Addison patted the comforter on her high bed.  “Okay, come sit here so we're at the same level.”</p>
<p>Accepting the invitation, Wynter hopped up onto it to sit demurely with her back straight and her heels against the bed frame.  She folded her hands in her lap and mimicked Addison's earlier head-tilt.  “I think I played fine, Doctor Wells.”</p>
<p>Addison giggled again and Wynter could see her trying to school her face into a serious expression.  “Miss Barkowitz, you played hard.  I'm surprised you aren't in here more often.”  She tutted in mock disapproval.  “Your black eye; those ribs.  If I turned you around and looked at your back, would I see more bruises?”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged.  “It's part of the game.”</p>
<p>“Well, as long as you can take it.  You're a tough girl.”  Addison moved closer.  “I'm just going to look you over and see if there's anything that's wrong aside from the obvious.  Hold still, please.”  She peered closely at Wynter's face.  “May I touch you?” she asked.  Getting a nod, she pressed her thumbs against her friend's forehead, working along her eyebrows.  “Let me know if something hurts.”  Her touch slid down to Wynter's cheeks, tenderly skirting the now-yellow bruise surrounding her eye and working back along her temples.</p>
<p>Wynter refrained from nosing closely at her.  It wouldn't be the thing to do in this situation, even with Addison's closeness.  At least it allowed her to pick up a mixture of scents: warm skin, the light tang of some fruity-smelling soap, and the sweet smell of a girl who had worked hard at cheer practice earlier that day.  “Is it always like this?” she asked.</p>
<p>Addison twitched a shoulder in a shrug as her fingers softly probed the hollow of Wynter's skull and up the back of her head.  “I'm being a little more touchy-feely than they would, since I know you like the attention.  You okay so far?”</p>
<p>“Mmhmm,” she hummed</p>
<p>“Okay, lift your chin, please.  I need to feel along your jaw and neck.”</p>
<p>Wynter hesitated.</p>
<p>“What?” Addison asked.</p>
<p>“Not for nothing,” she said softly, “but asking a wolf to show their throat is a big thing.  It's not a problem here because we're pretending we're in a healing place, but —”  She waggled her hand from side to side like Eliza had the other day.  “— it's down to trust, is what I'm saying.”</p>
<p>Outside of the rare display of dominance from Willa or Wyatt when decisions were needed, the only other full member of her pack that Wynter would bare her throat to was the healer.  Addison had never asked for submission, even though she had earned it many times over.  Still, for all she had done for the pack, Wynter would lift her chin without hesitation.</p>
<p>“Oh.”  Her friend looked worried.  “Sorry, I didn't mean that —”</p>
<p>Raising her chin, Wynter offered up her bare throat and a smile.</p>
<p>Stumbling over her sentence, Addison half-reached for her, then checked herself.</p>
<p>“It's okay,” Wynter assured her, “go on.”  She submitted to the touch as warm fingers cupped her neck, Addison caressing beneath her jaw.  The soft press of fingers moved under her chin, rubbing her.  <em> Oh.  Oh, that's gentle. </em>  She let her eyes drift shut as the sensations moved down her throat to her shoulders.</p>
<p>“Still good?” Addison murmured.  “I’ll need to check the lymph nodes in your underarms, too.  Not ticklish, right?”  She paused for Wynter's permission, then her fingers dipped down to press beneath each shoulder, working in slow circles.</p>
<p>“Nnnnnn,” Wynter managed, breathing through the tingling that spread through her arm as Addison kneaded there.</p>
<p>So far, this was nothing different from a visit to the healer's nook in the Den.  They would check her joints and bones, examine bumps and bruises, and recommend small remedies to care for any problems.  Had she pre-emptively panicked and made a fool of herself about being examined by a human?</p>
<p>“What are you thinking?” Addison asked.  She stepped back and reached for an instrument.</p>
<p>“That I'm a silly wolf and made a fuss over nothing?”  Wynter hunched her shoulders.</p>
<p>“Hey come on, put those shoulders down.  It's okay,” said Addison, opening the fabric cuff with a snarl of velcro.  “I'm glad you made a fuss, because it's important.”  She waggled the cuff at Wynter.  “This is the blood pressure monitor.  It's going to be tight around your arm, so don't freak out at it, okay?”</p>
<p>Relaxing again, Wynter held out her arm and submitted to the wrapping.  “Why is it all so important?”<br/>
<br/>
Addison gave the bulb on the end a squeeze and Wynter felt the cuff begin to tighten.  “Because you're going out into the larger world as an out and proud werewolf.  And some day, something might happen to you that means you'll need to trust a human doctor or hospital with your identity.”  She began pumping the cuff up and it slowly tightened around Wynter's bicep.  “Now, I can't interpret these readings on the dial but a doctor can, and they would tell you what it meant.  If they knew what normal is for you.”</p>
<p>Wynter looked down as her veins stood out on her forearm.  “Because I'm not human,” she said in realization.  “My readings won't be the same as yours.”</p>
<p>Releasing the pressure with a hiss of air, Addison reached for the velcro snap.  “Right.  They don't know what's normal for a werewolf, because they've never seen one before.  The more readings they get, the more they'll understand your species.”  She unwrapped Wynter's arm.  “Your fire pit stories might have some truth to them, after all.”</p>
<p>She got the gist of it.  The town didn't just want the werewolves medically cleared, although Wynter was sure that was their first priority.  They also needed a werewolf health database.  “They need to know how we're different from humans and zombies."  Oh, she had to talk to her pack healer when this was finished and spread the word.</p>
<p>“They should know, yes,” said Addison, putting her stethoscope in her ears.  “Okay, I'm pretending to listen to your heart now.”  She moved the pickup to a few points on Wynter's chest, skirting her sports bra as she listened intently, then she smiled.  “Want to hear mine?” she asked, plucking the ear tips out and offering the stethoscope to her.  “One-time offer, Wynter.”</p>
<p>Wynter raised her eyebrows.  “Really?”  Trust took several forms among pack members, from the communal bathing and sleeping piles, up through ritual hunts, and all the way to offering a throat.  But there was one more level, the highest: offering a heartbeat.  Instead of simply baring their throat to their opponent, the pack mate in question would show total trust by offering up the sound of their heart.  Unsure that Addison knew the true meaning of this offer, Wynter warily took the ends and placed them in her ears.  </p>
<p>“Yeah, here.”  Addison tucked the pickup between Wynter's index and middle fingers.  “Hold it like that, good.”  She lifted her tank top with one hand and used the other to guide Wynter's hand beneath her shirt and over her chest.  “It's okay, Willa told me.”</p>
<p>Listening to the soft thump and swish as Addison's heart pumped her blood, Wynter gazed up into her eyes and saw the slight teasing crinkle at the corners.  “Oh,” she said softly.  “She did?”</p>
<p>So many of the werewolves wished for a closer bond with their Great Unifier, and none were bold enough to ask for her presence in the fur piles or at the bathing river.  Or, in Wynter's own case, in a nice hot shower with a friend she held dear.  She'd expressed that desire to Willa before, and now Addison knew all about it.  This seemed to be her quiet counter-offer, then.  A high-level, parting gift of trust to the newly lone wolf.</p>
<p>Addison moved her hand for her, slipping it down beneath the edge of her bra and cupping it over her heart.  “And here, too,” she said quietly.  “How is it?”</p>
<p>Wynter didn’t break eye contact as her palm wrapped tightly around the edge of her friend's ribs.  “Warm,” she answered, feeling slightly foolish saying it out loud.  When Addison finally released her, she slid her hand free and let her pluck the stethoscope from her fingers.  “Thank you.”  <em> Eat </em> your <em> heart out, Wyatt.  Addison just offered up her own. </em>  To cover for her embarrassed gratitude at the close gift she'd accepted, she added, “If we did this to Eliza, what would we hear?”</p>
<p>“Probably the sound of her heart beating in protest of her being undead."  Addison smirked.  “Everything about her is rebellious, even her own body.”  She patted Wynter’s head.  “And you're welcome.”  Turning away, she lingered over the bag of medical supplies, which gave the werewolf time to collect herself.</p>
<p>“Okay, bright light here,” Addison said as she came back with a long penlight.  “Don't flinch too badly, I want to look at your eyes.”  She gave it several quick flicks in and out of Wynter's vision, acclimatizing her to the brightness.  Her thumb lifted Wynter's eyelids, and she peered into her eyes with the light.  “The doctor will probably want you to make your eyes glow, too.  That's easy enough, right?”</p>
<p>Wynter's moonstone lit up and she snarled softly as her eyes glowed golden.</p>
<p>“Yeah, like that,” Addison said, grinning.  “Same with checking your mouth.  You can lengthen your fangs, but don't bite the tongue depressor in two.  Open?”  She pressed Wynter's tongue down with a wooden popsicle stick and shone the light at her throat.  “Okay, good.  Your nose is also important, but out of respect for your sense of smell, I'll hold off.”</p>
<p>“Thank you.”  Wynter wrinkled her nose.  The smell of disinfectant on all the tools had already overtaken Addison's own scent in her sinuses.  She needed another sniff of cheerleader to clear her head.</p>
<p>Setting the light down, her friend picked up another and clipped an earpiece on the end.  “They'll also want to look in your ears.  Just hold still and I'll show you.”</p>
<p>“I'm beginning to see why werewolves are so wary of doctors,” Wynter muttered as Addison brushed her hair aside.  “All this sitting still ... <em> ooho-hoooo </em>...”  She managed to retain enough of her dignity to not drool as her ears got an extra level of attention.</p>
<p>“Shhh,” Addison told her, grinning as she slipped the tip into Wynter's ear canal.  Her fingers curled around the rim so she could tug the werewolf's ear up and back to open it up.   The quick little ear-scritch was hardly necessary, but it made her relax.  “If you want to be active, you have to stay still sometimes.”  She ambled around to check Wynter's other ear, giving it the same light pull, stretch, and scratch while she peered into the depths.  “And unlike me, the doctor won't scratch you behind the ears to make you hold still.”</p>
<p>“Nnngghh,” was Wynter's only reply.</p>
<p>Addison unlooped her stethoscope from her neck and fitted it back in her ears.  “Lungs next.  Take some deep breaths, in and out.”  She moved around to the side of the bed, leaning over and touching the pickup to Wynter's bare back.  Starting above her sports bra, Addison slowly moved it from left to right, working down to the small of her back as Wynter breathed in deeply.  “It'll be like this.  Okay?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded, pressing her nose against Addison's shoulder and catching her scent again.  “Mmmhmm.”  Oh, that was better.</p>
<p>“Okay, a couple more tests and I'll let you off the hook.”  Addison picked up a miniature triangular hammer and rolled it around on her palm.  “This is for testing reflexes.  It  won't hurt, I promise.”  She tapped the edge of Wynter's knee tendon and watched the resulting leg twitch, then did the other one.  “Wow, they react quicker than mine.  It's lucky you haven't hurt these out on the pitch yet.”</p>
<p>She did the forearm tendons next, then she briefly examined Wynter's hands, turning her palms over and tapping on her nails.  “Okay, lie back and unsnap your jeans.  I'd like to feel your stomach.” she said.  She hesitated, apparently realizing what she'd asked.  “Um, are you okay with that, Wynter?  I know it's a big trust thing.”</p>
<p>“I want to,” Wynter assured her. “You offered your heart, so I can do this.”  Scooting back on the bedspread, she lay flat on her back and undid her jeans, sliding them partway down her hips.  As she gazed at the plain bedroom ceiling, she found it awfully monotone.  “You need to spruce this lair up,” she said, grunting softly as Addison's fingers pressed into her belly.  “I'm sure we could turn your ceiling into something much more suitable for you.”</p>
<p>“It might be a little late for that,” Addison said, feeling along Wynter's abdomen and beneath the waistband of her shorts.  “Who knows if I'll be living in here next year or if I'll be out on a campus of my own?”  She glanced at Wynter's expression and shrugged.  “Zed and I might see what's out there.  Does any of this hurt?”</p>
<p>Wynter made a soft noise and shook her head.</p>
<p>Addison touched the edge of her rib bruise.  It had also faded to a yellowish-green by this point.  “How is this doing?  May I?”  Her nails scraped the edge of the sports bra.</p>
<p>Nodding, Wynter allowed her to roll up the edge of her bra to inspect the bruise.</p>
<p>Her touch slid carefully along the edges.  “Okay, it's fine.  If there's one thing I know, it's bruises.  I got dropped enough doing practice lifts at cheer camp.”  She smoothed the bra back down.  “ Your doctor's going to ask you about breast exams, too.  Listen to them and do what they tell you."  She patted Wynter's thigh.  “Okay, sit up again.”</p>
<p>Wynter rebuttoned her jeans and wriggled around a bit to get comfortable.</p>
<p>Addison sat down on her chair by the vanity.  “So, yeah.  All of that is standard, plus they probably will want to send you for blood tests to make absolutely sure, maybe give you a needle or two.  Don't claw at them if they poke you, okay?”</p>
<p>“Okay,” she agreed.</p>
<p>“Good.”  Addison heaved a sigh and rested her chin on a cupped hand.  “Was that all right, offering you my heartbeat?” she asked.</p>
<p>“I appreciated it,” Wynter admitted.  She leaned closer.  “Why did you go to Willa?”</p>
<p>Blushing, Addison waved a hand.  “You think I don't know you all want my attention?  All the eager glances, the way you would all nudge and whisper with each other, trying to get up the nerve to ask me for something?  I deal with twenty, thirty cheer kids four times a week, so I know when they're up to mischief.  Werewolves aren't so different.”  She smiled.  “So Willa and I had a chat about it.  I had to get her permission to keep you for the night, anyway.”</p>
<p>Wynter furrowed her brow.  “You ... did?”</p>
<p>“Yes.”  She leaned in.  “By the way, when you get back, don't gloat about being allowed to sleep in my bed tonight, okay?  Jealous wolves are <em> not </em> safe.”</p>
<p>With a giggle, Wynter nodded.  “So you knew what showing you my throat meant and you let me go on about it?”</p>
<p>“I like it when you werewolves tell me things,”  Addison said, “because you are all <em> infuriating </em> about keeping secrets.”  She mock-growled, and Wynter giggled more.  “But enough of all that.  What can we do for your first sleepover?  Movies? Ice cream?  Braid each other's hair?  Tell shaggy-wolf stories?”  She waggled her eyebrows.  “I mean, we could play spin the bottle or something, but what's the point with only two of us?  Truth or Dare?”</p>
<p>“Nuh-uh,” said Wynter.  “You'd pick Truth and try to get me to confess more wolf-secrets.”</p>
<p>Addison snapped her fingers sarcastically.  “Curses, foiled yet again.  You saw right through me.”</p>
<p>Pleased, Wynter glanced down at herself.  “I'd like to do a movie, but I should probably get changed.  I brought good sleeping clothes with me!”</p>
<p>Addison waved a hand and smiled.  “Cool.  You change, I'll go downstairs and get movie snacks.”  She slipped out the door and rattled down the stairs.</p>
<p>Wynter rolled her eyes.  One thing that Addison didn’t have going for her was stealth.  Whether it was in the middle of the forest or in the quiet of her own home, her movements remained big and loud, full of energy.  She couldn't slink to save her life.</p>
<p>Reaching behind her, Wynter unzipped her sports bra and shed it with a shrug of her shoulders.  Carefully feeling along her neck and sides, she checked for red marks or lines in her skin, then hefted her girls in her palms.  Oh, they needed a break.  No bra tonight.</p>
<p>Leaning back, she ran her nails up and down her spine, groaning at the tingling on her bare skin.  Then she shed her jeans and reached into her overnight bag for the clothes she'd brought along.</p>
<p>She hopped into the most well-worn pair of sweatpants she owned, the fabric battered and soft, followed by an extra-long black T-shirt.  The hem hit her about mid-thigh and the neckline almost hung off one bare shoulder.  She had picked it up at a school thrift sale for the three wolves howling at the moon pattern on the front.  When the size turned out to be more Bonzo's than her own, Wynter had kept it anyway.  She liked sleeping in it during the winter months.</p>
<p>Addison bounced back up the stairs and shimmied into the room with a bowl of popcorn and glass-bottled drinks.  “Straws are included,” she said, setting it all down on her dresser.  “And I've got the perfect idea for movies.”</p>
<p>Setting up her laptop, she highlighted a few files and turned the screen towards Wynter.  “College theme night!” she exclaimed.  “I looked up some old movies and figured they'd be fun to get a handle on what lies ahead.”</p>
<p>Wynter eyed the summaries.  “Probably not <em>Animal House</em>,” she said slowly.  She glanced at Addison.  “What do you think?”<br/>
<br/>
Addison leaned over and pointed to one partway down the list.  “This one's at an all-girls school from a long time ago.  Could be interesting.  If not?”  She shrugged.  “We can hit stop and choose something else.  No commitment.”</p>
<p>Poking her fangs with the tip of her tongue, Wynter nodded.  “Okay.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Halfway through the movie, both of them lay curled up together on the bed with Wynter lounging against the headboard and Addison using her as a backrest.  Nestled between her friend's legs, she lazily stroked Wynter's knee and shin with her fingernails, seemingly lost in the dialogue between the actresses on-screen.</p>
<p>For her part, Wynter had tangled her fingers into Addison's hair right before the opening credits.  She intended on working over every inch of her scalp to make up for all the lost head massages.  Addison had quickly declared herself at Wynter's utter mercy and her head occasionally lolled back, finding a comfortable headrest on Wynter's chest.</p>
<p>“Think this is how it really was?” Addison asked quietly, her touch skirting Wynter's ankle and sliding back up her leg to circle her kneecap.  Each glide of her fingers produced pleasant tingles and the tender scratches added to the sensations.  “They all went to school and waited there to get married?”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged.  “Maybe.  Not something I would have done.”  She applied a little more pressure with her fingertips on a spot that would make Addison's toes flex.</p>
<p>Addison flexed her toes and her free hand groped for more popcorn.  “Nooo,” she sighed, “I don't suppose you would.”  She turned her head to peek up at Wynter, but that made the head-rub difficult, so she subsided again and munched fluffy popcorn kernels.  “I dunno how wolves do it, and I <em> know </em> you aren't going to tell me — but we humans give up a lot for love.”  Her phone buzzed in her pocket against Wynter's other calf and Addison fished it out, dusting her hand off on her shirt.</p>
<p>“Zed?” Wynter asked softly.  She fought with him often but she wouldn't ever maul him, not while he and Addison cared so much for each other.</p>
<p>Shading the light of her phone to not distract from the computer screen, Addison read the message and typed a quick reply back.  “Yeah.  Making sure we're having fun.”<br/>
<br/>
“Mmm.”  Wynter watched the women on the screen go back and forth about their lives, both personal and academic.  She had paid more attention to the buildings in the movie so far, marvelling quietly at their sheer size and design.  Would the Wildwood campus have that sort of history?  She traced a slow path behind Addison's ears, her fingernails sliding delicately through white hair.  “Should send him a picture of the two of us.  Show him what he's missing.”</p>
<p>Addison giggled as Wynter's fingers did their work.  “You've got me more wrapped up right now than he's ever managed.”  She demonstrated by wrapping her arm around Wynter's knee, turning the leg gently enough to get a foot tucked into her lap.  “If we do a selfie, I should show him that I have you at <em> my </em> mercy!”</p>
<p>Wynter growled softly, but allowed the indignity of a human getting her in a compromising position for the sake of friendship.  </p>
<p>Addison held her phone up and the two of them bared claws in time for the flash to go off.  Once the moment had passed, she inched back to recline into her comfortable werewolf.  Wynter stretched her legs out again and resumed watching, but to her surprise, Addison sent the selfie off and then reached out to scoop her foot up again.  “What?”</p>
<p>“Your Great Unifier should return the favour,” she said with a teasing grin, “that's all.”  Tucking Wynter's foot into her lap once more, she did something with her thumbs.  The pressure beneath the ball of her foot made Wynter's eyelashes flutter.  “There?” Addison asked sweetly.</p>
<p>“S'nice,” Wynter admitted.  How did Addison know her feet got sore often, even with good shoes and sturdy boots?  Had she gotten her paws on inside information?</p>
<p>“Good.  You need it.”  Addison turned back to the movie, not saying anything more.  Her sure hands worked up and down Wynter's sole for a few more scenes.  Occasionally, tender spots would flare and her foot would twitch, and Addison would work the pain out with slow hooks of her fingertips.</p>
<p>Wynter couldn't figure out the reason for the extra attention, but her body refused to complain.  So she resumed her grooming and allowed Addison to do nice things in return.</p>
<p>Partway through the climactic scenes, Addison stealthily laid aside Wynter's now-buzzing foot and snuck a hand out to snare the other one, dragging it into her lap for the same attention.  Wynter didn't protest, absorbed in the movie, and only made a sound when those fingers dug into her soft instep.</p>
<p>“I liked it,” Addison said, cupping and squeezing Wynter's heel once the final credits began to roll.  “Feel like another?”</p>
<p>“Mmhmm.”  Wynter nodded, but they were both now too tangled up with each other to want to move.  Addison's thumbs had found a pressure point behind an ankle that she seemed determined to exploit, and Wynter was trying her best to not give in with happy wolf noises.  She had taken refuge in searching for sore spots along Addison's ribs and causing her breath to hitch each time she found another ache.</p>
<p>The credits ran out and a small loading screen played a plinking tune, but neither girl paid attention to it, wrapped up in their own attentions for the other.</p>
<p>“So, this is what it's like in a fur pile, huh?” Addison finally asked, raising her voice above the loading screen's soundtrack.  “All of you in a cuddle?”</p>
<p>Wynter rubbed her thumb over a rib and felt the muscle shift, Addison gasping and squeezing her foot in response.  “Kind of.  Feel like you've been missing out?  We've been trying to lure you in for ages.”</p>
<p>“Don't tempt me.  I might not want to leave the Den if it's like this.”  Addison tilted her head back and smiled.</p>
<p>“You can have my spot,” Wynter said quietly, and that did it.  Tears prickled at her eyes and an emotional lump swelled in her throat.  After saying it so many times, it finally began to hit home that her choice meant she would be outside the pack.  She curled into Addison's back and wrapped her up in a hug, her voice cracking.  “<em>Someone's </em> got to take my place while I'm away.”</p>
<p>“Oh, honey.”  Addison released her leg and rolled over in her arms, putting them nose to nose.  “It's okay.  You're going to do great things out there.”  She smoothed her fingers through the hair at Wynter's temples and applied some gentle pressure, rubbing in little circles.  “You are of the Forest pack and you always will be.  Willa said to tell you that if you worried about being on your own.”  She petted soothingly, stroking her hair.  “Come on, don't sniffle.  You didn't cry at the movie, don't start now.”</p>
<p>Wynter giggled brokenly at that and Addison smiled.  She lifted herself off and stretched before sliding down to the laptop and switching movies.  “Good,” she said.  “Let me put on the next one and we can get back to snuggling.”  As she played with the movie program, she peeked back at her friend.  “And I might decide to keep your fur pile spot warm for you while you're not using it.”</p>
<p>With Addison's weight off her, Wynter went into a stretch of her own that curled her toes and popped her lower back.  “You can do that,” she agreed, “if Willa agrees.  You can bribe her with a foot rub like that one and she'll give you the keys to the whole Den.”  She reached over for a tissue and dabbed at her eyes and cleared her nose.  Thankfully, Addison would never tell anywolf about her moment of weakness.</p>
<p>“We'll see,” Addison flopped back down beside her and put her head to one side, her white hair spilling over a bare shoulder.  “I don't do those for <em> any </em>wolf, though.  Willa gave up your secret scratchy spots and all it cost me was a throat-baring.  She said to make sure you weren't too freaked out at the medical stuff and to pamper you afterwards.”</p>
<p>Wynter raised an eyebrow.  “Joke's on her.  I think I handled that checkup pretty well.”  She flicked a fingernail against the phone sticking out of Addison's fleece pyjama pants pocket.  “Zed hasn't texted back.”<br/>
<br/>
“Yeah, well, no,” admitted Addison.  She slipped the phone out and set it down on her nightstand.  “He also wanted to see if you were okay with playing doctor.  Once I sent him that selfie, he knew you were good.”  She slid up to nestle into Wynter's side.  “Everyone was kind of prepared to jump in if it was too much for you, but you took it like a champ.”</p>
<p>“Helps that there was nothing to it,” Wynter acknowledged.  She still felt a little foolish, but it had been more about her tender emotions than her fears.</p>
<p>“You just needed to know that for yourself.”  Addison tapped her softly on the nose and rolled over, reaching out a foot to delicately click the spacebar with her toe and start the next movie.  “Let's see how this goes.  I've never seen <em>Monsters University</em>.”  She nudged Wynter with a shoulder.  “Sit up more, you, that lap is mine.  I paid for it.”</p>
<p>Wynter sat up straighter, tucking a pillow against her lower back and letting Addison use her as a soft cushion.  She hadn't seen the sequel either.  “Thank everyone for me,” she said, resting her hand on Addison's shoulder and beginning to knead the curve of her neck once again.  “Even Zed.”<br/>
<br/>
Addison slumped loosely as if Wynter had cut a string that held all her tension.  “Mmmph, 'k. Jus' keep doin' that, ya handsy wolf.”  Her nails scraped softly along the side of Wynter's knee, sending shivers up her leg again.  “Willa says you like this.”</p>
<p>“Curse her betrayal of her fellow werewolves,” Wynter murmured over the opening theme music, but she didn't stop Addison from rubbing that spot.  She needed the comfort.  “I should challenge her for her weakness.”</p>
<p>“She'd still take you down pretty hard,” Addison told her, shifting her position to not cut off the circulation to Wynter's thighs.  “Accept your fate like a good little wolf.  Now, shhh.  I wanna watch this.”</p>
<p>They stayed silent for long stretches of the movie, only occasionally discussing scenes or cackling like madwomen at the comedic moments.  As time passed, Wynter's kneading slid down slowly to the curve of Addison's hip, and Addison obediently shifted around to allow better access without wrist strain.  “I appreciate the effort,” she groaned.  “So many squats and leg lifts.”</p>
<p>“You have a boyfriend,” Wynter reminded her, curling her hand into a loose fist and working her knuckles into the flesh of Addison's rump.  “He should be tending to you.”<br/>
<br/>
“The important word in that sentence is 'boy',” Addison said, a semi-growl building in her throat at the pressure Wynter was applying, “and my parents still have rules about male guests in my own bedroom.  You, however, are both girl and wolf, and I am your Great Unifier.  This is merely the tribute my butt rightfully deserves.”</p>
<p>Wynter smirked.  “Try that one on Willa in the fur pile and see how fast your butt gets lit up.”  She knuckled down the side of Addison's hip and the resulting groan was even deeper.  “When she made you offer your throat to her, did she cup your chin and wolf out on you?”</p>
<p>“Oh, totally,” Addison said.  “She might have even licked my collarbone.  I mean, I was staring at the pretty ceiling art you guys have, it was kind of hard to tell.  But I swear, I felt a quick wet dab or something in the hollow of my throat.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, don't let Wyatt trick you into displaying your throat for him.  He always goes for the full hickey and he's not subtle about it.”  Wynter slowed her kneading.  Addison was in good shape overall and didn't need as much attention as she shamelessly begged for.  “I mussed up his pretty hair the last time he tried that.  Dominance is one thing, but I draw the line at his tongue.”</p>
<p>Addison stifled a laugh, but whether it was at her story or the on-screen jokes, Wynter wasn't sure.  Wyatt had put his reputation with the pack on the line, trusting that a human would be the path to the moonstone's recovery.  His hunch had paid off, but that didn't mean he'd earned all the extra swagger he had acquired.  It was a good thing that Eliza had an interest in him, since she could deflate his ego every time he began to puff up.</p>
<p>Once the movie ended, Addison sighed and slipped free of Wynter with obvious reluctance.  “For a rough and tumble athlete, you make a lovely cushion,” she said.  “Come on, let's clean up.  I know you wolves own the night, but it's been a loooong week.”</p>
<p>Privately, Wynter agreed.  She had kept one ear out for any lingering howls out on the town, but it seemed as if her pack had also stayed in.  The looming threat of exams and final project deadlines had a way of putting even the most staunch night howlers to bed early.</p>
<p>After brushing her fangs, removing her makeup, and undoing her hair braids in exchange for a wolftail, she stumbled from the bathroom back across the hall to Addison's room.  The week had caught up with her, and the relaxation of the evening had made her even more tired.  She was very ready for bed.</p>
<p>As she came in, Addison was setting her moonstone necklace down in its box.  Wynter reached up to fumble with the clasp on hers.  “Let's not mix these up, 'kay?” she said.  “I would get in so much trouble for wearing the Great Alpha moonstone.”  She grimaced.  “Plus, I'm pretty sure it would short me right out and I'd be out of wolf-energy in a flash.  Literally.”</p>
<p>“Put it in your bag's outside pocket,” Addison said, laughing.  She had switched her outfit for sleeping shorts and a thinner tank top, and she rolled back the top comforter.  “It's warming up outside, so we won't need too many layers.”  Folding it up, she dropped it on her chair.  “You good?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded, tucking her moonstone away.  She unlaced her sweatpants and shimmied out of them, leaving only her oversized T-shirt and underwear.  “I could have borrowed a sleeping bag from someone,” she said, folding them up and dropping them on her bag with her other clothes.</p>
<p>“Yeah, you could have,” said Addison, sliding beneath the sheets on her side of the bed.  “But it's bedtime, and what kind of a host would I be if I made you sleep at the foot of my bed?”  She smirked and flipped over the covers on the other side.  “So get in here.”</p>
<p>Obeying, Wynter got into bed as Addison leaned over to turn off the light.  The two girls made a production of getting settled, finding places for both pairs of feet, and swapping pillows in the dark.  Then everything settled down and Wynter gave a content sigh as she luxuriated in human-made comfort.</p>
<p>“Miss your bunk?” Addison asked softly.</p>
<p>Wynter rolled onto her side to face her.  “This is nice,” she said, smiling.  She could see Addison very well in the dark.  “Maybe even nicer.”</p>
<p>“Good.”  Addison's own smile warmed her heart.  “Everything's going to be okay, Wynter.”</p>
<p>She certainly hoped so.  Even if Wildwood didn't accept her in the end, she had more than enough friends who accepted her here.  Leaning in, Wynter gave Addison a nuzzle on her nose.  “Thank you.”</p>
<p>“Awww.”  Snuggling down, Addison grinned some more.  Then her leg brushed Wynter's and she yelped.  “Whoa!”</p>
<p>Wynter started back, hands coming up into claws.  “What?”  The sudden burst of laughter from the other side of the bed confused her.  “What is it?”</p>
<p>Snortling with glee, Addison sat up.  “Well <em> hello </em>, Miss Fuzzy-Legs!”  She flopped back down and giggled more.  “Oh, sorry.  I — hah — never thought about that.  Never even looked.”  Her instep nudged Wynter's calf, exploring the hair on her legs beneath the covers.  “Wooow.  I should have guessed when I checked your underarm nodes and you were fuzzy there, too.”</p>
<p>Unsure if she should take any offense or not, Wynter poked back at her with a foot.  “I've heard it all the last couple years,” she said.  “Fur rug jokes, pelt jokes, wild guesses about what else I don't shave, everything.”  She turned her leg so Addison's toes could prod the bare patch that had healed over from getting raked with rugby cleats earlier that week.  “Never mind what got yanked out on the pitch.”</p>
<p>“It's you, though,” Addison said happily.  Having satisfied her curiosity, she settled down again and breathed out a small laugh.  “Don't change because people want you to, remember?  You werewolves taught me that.”  She petted Wynter's shoulder.  “Do you have a goodnight howl?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded and cleared her throat, then rolled onto her back.  “Aah-wwooo.”  She raised her eyebrows.  “There's that little hitch between the 'h' and the 'wooo', with a second 'w' and an extra 'o' at the end.”</p>
<p>Addison took a slow breath.  “Ahh-woooo!” she announced to the darkness, then smiled.  “How was that?”</p>
<p>“Good!”  Wynter nodded, then rolled over so Addison wouldn't see her stifling her laughter.  How had she gotten <em> 'Silver button polish' </em> out of that?</p>
<p>“Liar,” came Addison's soft rebuke, and she pressed herself close into Wynter's back, slipping an arm around her stomach.  “How about I stick with 'goodnight'?”  She kissed the nape of the werewolf's neck.  “Goodnight, Wynter.  Don't kick me while chasing rabbits in your sleep.”</p>
<p>“Night,” Wynter murmured, curling back into her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The June sun warmed Wynter's back as she slouched against the post office railing with her good shoulder.  She poked at her ice cream with a spoon, shading the small plastic cup from the worst of the glare.</p>
<p>A shadow fell over her and she didn't look up, concentrating on eating slowly enough to avoid fang freeze, but quickly enough to not end up with a cup of peanut butter soup.  She had heard him loping along halfway down the block and had made the decision to ignore his approach.  Until he gave her a reason not to.</p>
<p>“Ooh, got your shots, did you?” Wyatt sprawled onto the steps next to her.  He attempted to prod a band-aid on her left arm.</p>
<p>She shied away from his looming index finger.  “Do NOT touch my shoulder!”  Her moonstone ignited and she snarled at her pack-mate, hooking one set of claws and flashing them.</p>
<p>“That would be more terrifying if you had actually put down the pink ice cream spoon,” said Wyatt, plucking it from between her fingers.  He examined the band-aid covering the cotton gauze in the crook of her elbow.  “What happened there?”<br/><br/>“Bloodwork,” she grumbled.  “Your turn's coming up, so be ready.”</p>
<p>Wyatt took her fingers carefully in his own, threading them together.  “You are a bad wolf who runs right into bodies at full speed,” he reminded her.  “You spent most of last week with a black eye, and you finished your final exams.  Was surrendering a little bit of blood so terrible compared to all that?”</p>
<p>Sighing, Wynter tried to unlace her fingers and steal her spoon back.  “No.” It hadn't really hurt her, but something about the indignity of being jabbed in the same arm several times meant she needed a good sulk in the sunlight.  So she had wandered down to the ice cream cart for some Peanut Butter and Bones, then slumped down on the stairs in front of the post office.</p>
<p>“At least it's over now, right?”</p>
<p>She slanted a narrow-eyed glare at him and instead of fighting for her spoon, she flicked her tongue out to lap at her melting ice cream.</p>
<p>The physical had gone well, thanks to Addison's planning.  The young doctor at the clinic had caught on to the need for a werewolf database rather quickly.  She had gone over Wynter with a metaphorical fine-toothed comb (at one point she produced a literal comb to examine Wynter's scalp).  Once they had gotten past the various measurements and weighing, everything had settled into the same things Addison had done, and Wynter had slipped right into the routine as if she'd participated in dozens of checkups.  At least she hadn't left claw gouges in the examination table after those needles.  She was proud of herself for that.</p>
<p>“So why are you lurking outside the post office?” he asked, turning around to eye the building.</p>
<p>Wynter rolled her head in his direction and waited for him to meet her wide gaze.  “Because of the <em> mail </em>? It's my turn to pick it up, but they wouldn't let me inside with my ice cream.”</p>
<p>“You've claimed it's your turn to pick up the mail nearly every day for the last couple weeks.” Wyatt handed her spoon back to her.  “Give Wildwood some time to read your application first.”</p>
<p>“I hate waiting,” she muttered.  Scooping the rest of the ice cream into her mouth, she set the cup down and came up with a bone between her teeth.  “Mrrrrf!”</p>
<p>He watched her gnaw on it.  “Can I give you some advice as a Lykensen?”</p>
<p>She shrugged her good shoulder.  Just being a Lykensen meant nothing to most of the pack, even though it was a good name that had lasted for several centuries.  Willa and Wyatt hadn't taken their positions based on their family, but had carried the werewolves through the moonstone crisis by their own good leadership.  Wynter's own family line had an equally long history, but she was more of a follower.</p>
<p>“Three weeks ago, you didn't know any of this and now you're letting it run your life.”  Wyatt stretched his legs out and leaned back on his elbows.  “I know I said that contributing to the human world means they'll take us seriously, but not if it's distracting you from living your best life, Wynter.”  He looked over at her.  “You're worried about not getting in.”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  She had never considered a life outside of the Forest or her pack before.  In fact, if someone had asked her a month earlier if she wanted to leave Seabrook, she would have gone into anxious twitches at the thought.  “We showed up to get what we needed,” she said. “We came, we got the moonstone, and we never left.  Now they're making us leave.”  They didn't have to go far, but they had no choice about graduating.  Seabrook High wouldn't let the werewolves stay forever.  “I'd rather have a goal.”</p>
<p>“And if you don't make it into Wildwood, will you be okay staying in the Forest? Or will you mope around like you're doing now?”</p>
<p>“My place is with the pack,” Wynter said, reluctantly uncurling from her hunched-over posture, “but if I can do better for us outside Seabrook, I want to try.”  She would come back, of course.  If she got her degree, it would have all kinds of applications in the Forest.  “I haven't stopped living, Wyatt, I've been leading the way.”  Gesturing at her arm, she ripped the band-aids off one at a time.  “I've put myself.  Out there.  For YOU!”  The last one came off her inner elbow and she snarled at the sharp yank as the cotton came with it.</p>
<p>He nodded approvingly at her.  “Good.  There's your energy.  I was worried the doctor thing had hurt you more than you wanted to admit.”</p>
<p>She wanted to throw the gauze at him, but instead stuffed it all in her empty ice cream cup.  “I'm fine.  It's worth it, Wyatt.  We need every wolf checked out as soon as possible.”  Wynter used the railing to pull herself upright in a surge of power.  “We did this to ourselves and now we can make something better out of it.  Although you'll have to go through it without Addison fawning over you.  That's going to suck.”</p>
<p>With a laugh, Wyatt clasped his hands over his heart.  “Ouch.  A little harsh there, kid.”  He rolled to his feet.  “And Wynona agrees with you.  She reported to the Den after supervising your physical at the clinic.  She also said you slunk off right after, so Willa sent me to make sure.”  He shook his head and watched her tuck the rib bone in the corner of her teeth.</p>
<p>Wynona was the pack's healer, and had offered to co-ordinate with the human doctors in building the werewolves' files.  She had also agreed to send Wynter's records onto the scholarship review so they could make their decision.</p>
<p>“I'm fine,” Wynter insisted.  Now that she'd shaken off her grumpiness, she chucked her garbage in the nearby bin and headed for the post office.  Somewhere in her jeans' tiny front pocket was the mailbox key and she wiggled a finger in to pull it out.  “You take three needles in your arm for diseases they're not even sure you can get and see how happy you feel afterwards.”</p>
<p>Wyatt followed her.  “Fair point.  Did they say how much this costs?  We have over thirty werewolves in the pack and the city won't cover everything.”</p>
<p>“We cover it,” Wynter said, “by contributing.”  She swung the door open and held it for him, passing him a small canvas shoulder bag.  “We can trade our skills like the zombies do.  Willa said the city included these checkups in our agreement, and they put money aside for it.  We'll give back in some way to balance it out.  The Swearwolf Jar should be a last resort.”</p>
<p>As she unlocked their post office box and transferred all their mail into the bag Wyatt held open, she peeked back at him.  He had that look in his eye, the one that said they were going to have a discussion.  She warned him with a head shake.  “Save it for when we're on the road.”</p>
<p>“Oh, that topic I will,” he murmured, “but I heard Addison learned your scratchy spots last week.”</p>
<p>Wynter bristled.  “Your sister gave them up, not me,” she grumbled back, shoving a handful of advertising flyers at him.  “I didn't even know until Addison admitted that she'd offered up her throat in return.  I'm sorry, but giving up that much trust so she could learn where I like to be touched?  Massive overpayment.  She could have gone skinny-dipping with Willa for that tidbit.”</p>
<p>“It's like humans have the whole trust thing backwards.” He drew the bag closed and put it over his shoulder.  “They'd rather roll over or lift their chin than hunt or bathe with us.  Their levels are stacked differently.”</p>
<p>No kidding.  Her rugby teammates — who showered with her every week — would allow her to take them down time and again, but they still knew enough to keep their heads level, their throats covered, and their bodies protected.  She had taught them all well.  Addison, however, would roll over completely on a whim rather than accept an invitation to the fur piles.  Although given how their discussion during the sleepover had gone . . .</p>
<p>“You can't be jealous about my cuddles with her,” she said, closing the box and shoving the key back down into the tight denim of her pocket.  “There were special circumstances.”  As Wyatt headed for the exit, Wynter pursued him.  They dodged past several humans and skirted around the lineup for stamps.  “I was a test wolf!”</p>
<p>“I get that.” He leaned on the big metal handle for the exit door.  “You deserved every bit of attention Addison lavished on you.  I'm not complaining.”  Wyatt put his shoulder into the heavy door and it groaned open, letting in a burst of sunlight and warm summer air.  </p>
<p>“Then what's wrong?” Wynter asked, shading her eyes as they went outdoors.  “Do you want your secret spots put out there?  We have friends who would be more than happy to find them.”</p>
<p>His scent flipped from annoyed to embarrassed, and she quickly stepped back before any claws could latch onto her vest.  “Wait,” she said warily.  “That's it.  Everyone's been worrying about me for the last few weeks.  You're feeling neglected, aren't you?  Wyatt —”</p>
<p>“Shh!” He looked around.  Then he dashed for the railing and slid down to the sidewalk in a rush of movement.  He flicked a hand out and Wynter flew after him in a flash.  She scooped the mailbag off his shoulder and vaulted the concrete barrier up onto the grass, the two werewolves darting across the town square and into the shadows of Zombie Town.</p>
<p>Once back on the main road to the Forbidden Forest, they slowed back to a walk and Wynter whirled on Wyatt.  “Why are you holding yourself back?” she demanded.  “Do you think I want you ignored while everyone's paying attention to me?  I didn't ask to be the werewolf that crosses the frozen river first.  This is where my life is taking me.”  Puffing out a heavy breath, she tried to make herself bigger but Wyatt cocked his head and growled, so she skittered backwards and settled for squaring her shoulders.  He still outranked her, but she wouldn't roll over so easily.</p>
<p>“Don't limit yourself because you think I'm our best hope,” she continued, curling her fingers into claws.  “You, Willa, and the other wolves who graduate after us are more important right now.  If and when I walk out of this Forest to go to Wildwood, I plan on being there for the full three years.  That's three years before I come back with any sort of idea about how to improve our lives.  You'll still be here while I'm away, and you'll get the job done quicker!  The Forest Pack's relationship with Seabrook will depend on you, not me!”</p>
<p>Wyatt growled less aggressively and he straightened up.  “The Forest Pack's exposure to humanity will go with you,” he said.  “Wynter, you're not our best hope or our only hope, but you're now important in ways I can't explain.”  He moved closer and she shuffled to the side, rising out of her defensive stance.  ”If I have to sacrifice a little to make sure you're getting the most care from the pack before you leave us for months at a time, then I'll do that.  I want you to carry as much affection as you can when you go from here.  Because you'll go by yourself, but we won't send you out alone.”</p>
<p>“Oh.”  Wynter stomped her heels on the ground, wondering what she should do with her rapidly fading anger.  He'd only poked at her because some frustration had finally leaked through and he couldn't help but tease her about Addison's sleepover.  Werewolves weren't supposed to repress those feelings, but she didn't want to spar with him to release them, either.  Not with one good shoulder and a mailbag slung over her bad one.  “Wyatt, you're important, too.  You're the one who'll work with the zombies after graduation.  Don't let that stress get to you or the doctor will tell you to relax when it's your turn to see her.”</p>
<p>“Fine.” Wyatt heaved a deep sigh.  “I'll admit, studying for exams has been a little stressful but they're done now.  And I've been waiting to hear how your physical went.  It's kind of been on my mind.”</p>
<p>Wynter touched his shoulder in sympathy.  Oh, of course he was nervous about a doctor's visit.  None of the other wolves had been prepped like she had.  “You told me earlier to not let worry stop me from living.  Listen to your own advice, Lykensen.”  She passed by his shoulder and brushed up against him, using her body language to say both <em> I care about you </em> and <em> you dope</em>.  “Enough about the mess inside our heads.  What about the Jar?”</p>
<p>He followed her along the scented path that led to the Den.  “The Jar is fine.  We haven't had to dip into it for ages, so there's a good stockpile of stones.  I've still got several in my nook, too.”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  Most of the wolves held onto pretty or shiny rocks they found, in case they ended up being fined for language.  But often, those rocks and pebbles were more than ordinary stones.  The Den was only one of several caverns in the area, and many of those held uncut gems and rough stones that were worth much more than they appeared.  If she really wanted, she could fund her education with the right handful of 'pebbles'.</p>
<p>But no werewolf would raid the Jar unless the situation was dire, and no human or zombie could ever learn how much wealth lay in their innocuous clay pot.  The offhand comments about paying off their debt with pebbles was an elaborate camouflage and it would remain a werewolf secret that not even Addison would discover.</p>
<p>“If I get into Wildwood, I'll take some with me from my stash,” she said.  “Don't you go giving me any of yours as a parting gift, either.  I've got enough.”</p>
<p>“I wasn't going to offer.” He slipped past her on the narrow side of the trail and received a growl for throwing her off stride.  “According to the booklets, you'll get your own meal plan as part of living there.  Meanwhile, we'll be cut off from the school cafeteria at Seabrook.  Ugh, I'm going to miss chicken.”</p>
<p>“That's where your thoughts are now, food?”  While they had the run of the Forest and all its animals, having to settle down into a routine at high school had caused havoc with their diets.  School food had often found its way to the Den, though, thanks to Coach Morrow.  Wynter had never eaten so many vegetables than when she was in training.</p>
<p>Wyatt bumped off her and bounded around a nearby rock formation.  “Hey, you got your snack.  It's almost lunch time and I had to spend half the morning tracking you down.  It's hungry work.”</p>
<p>“You're a growing wolf, everything makes you hungry.”</p>
<p>Willa met them at the Den's entrance, her arms folded.  “Well, took you long enough.”  She rolled her eyes when Wynter shyly held up the mailbag.  “Of course.  Where else would you have gone?”</p>
<p>“She's fine,” Wyatt said.  “Just make sure no one touches her shoulder for a bit until she stops acting hurt.”</p>
<p>The eye-rolling increased.  “She shrugs off a black eye and banged-up ribs all week, but poke her in the shoulder a few times and she curls up in a heap.”</p>
<p>“You're next,” Wynter reminded her.  “Then we'll see how you feel.”  She dodged past Wyatt's affectionate swipe and allowed Willa to take the bag.  “I should change.  I smell like chemicals.”</p>
<p>The howls of welcome followed her into the Den and as the other werewolves gathered to greet her, she tried to wave everyone off.  “I'm okay!”</p>
<p>“We know.” Winifred wrinkled her nose, circling Wynter warily.  “Did they put you in a science lab or something?”</p>
<p>“Science is important,” Wynter informed her.  “I've been taking it for two years at Seabrook.”  She allowed a few more sniffs and faces made at her before she managed to slip out of the curious circle.  “Willa and Wyatt have the mail, so go bother them!”</p>
<p>Once she was safely in her nook, she changed into softer clothes and scraped her nails through her hair.   She took a moment to breathe and focus on her moonstone, letting the power flare through her to ease her aches.  No matter how many human things she did, she still had a wolfish heart.  The moonstone still acknowledged her, sustained her, and made her strong.</p>
<p>Another set of howls echoed through the Den and Wynter brought her head up from where she had leaned back against the rock wall of her nook.  Those howls called to her by name, ordering her to return to the communal space.  She picked several elders' voices out from the chorus, and so she quickly obeyed, toeing her feet into sneakers and scampering back through the hallways.</p>
<p>“I'm here, I'm here!” she said, startled at the double rows of werewolves lining the entrance from that part of the Den.  When had she ever needed an honour guard?  “What is it?”</p>
<p>Down at the end of the rows, Willa flicked an envelope up between two of her fingers.  “Looks like somewolf didn't check the mail properly before she shoved it all in her bag. This was almost folded in with the flyers.  I wonder if we should open it?  Wolves?”</p>
<p>Conflicting calls and yowls filled the space.  Then Wynter spied the flash of a red and white crest at the corner of the envelope.  She stiffened and shot down the line of werewolves towards her former alpha, enduring the laughter of her pack.  Skidding to a halt and scattering broken branches around their feet, she leapt for the envelope held high out of reach in Willa's fist.</p>
<p>“Don't you dare run off with it and hide,” Willa warned her, clamping her other hand on Wynter's shoulder and pressing her down flat onto her feet.  “Open it here so we can help with whatever you need.”</p>
<p>Nodding, Wynter flexed her fingers.  “Okay, okay.”  All her calm and focus had deserted her in that scramble across the floor.  She had eyes only for the white envelope as Willa offered it to her.  An undignified noise of want escaped her and the pack chuckled.</p>
<p>She didn't rip it open right away, but held the envelope in both hands.  It weighed next to nothing and Wynter gazed at her typed name, with the post office box listed beneath.  How had she missed this?  It was almost a blessing, because now she could open it in front of every wolf.</p>
<p>Using one hooked fingernail, she slit the end open and removed a sheaf of papers from inside.  She glanced at the elders gathered behind Willa.  “Couldn't have done this without all of you,” she said, then unfolded the top letter and began to read out loud, occasionally stumbling over some of the longer and stranger words:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Dear Miss Barkowitz, </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> On behalf of the Admissions Committee, allow me to congratulate you on your tentative acceptance into The Wildwood College for Women.  Your application was highly unusual and while we congratulate you on your scholarly and athletic accomplishments so far, I must ask for your patience.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Several thousand young women apply each year and we have conditionally selected you to be one of Wildwood's finest.  We are sure that once your admission is complete, you will be a fantastic addition to our community.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> When you filled out your application, you indicated that you wished to tour the campus.  Please choose one of the following days in late June or early July to attend our Wildwood Week festivities, where you can come and see your prospective new home.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>On that day, we ask that you attend a meeting with our Provost and the Dean of Academic Affairs, who wish to greet you in person and understand more about you.  They look forward to your arrival and a discussion about your desire to join us. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Congratulations once again and I look forward to meeting you in the next month. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Sincerely, </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Grace H. Wallace </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Office of Admissions. </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lowering the letter, Wynter let out an unsteady breath and looked around.  Why was everyone still staring at her?  Were they waiting for her to come out and say it?  “That's a lot of big words to say, I'm, well, uh . . .  I guess I'm in?”</p>
<p>Whoops and howls of joy rained down on her and she almost disappeared beneath an onslaught of excited pack mates.  Wyatt snagged her letter before she hit the floor, and Wynter managed a quick yip of thanks as everyone hauled her upright and attempted to carry her around the Den on their shoulders.</p>
<p>“Hey!  Ow, watch the shoulder!  Woohoo!  Ah!  No, seriously, ow!  Sore arm here!”  Wynter pawed at various wolves, half-laughing as they made a circuit of the room.  When they dropped her back on her feet by Willa, she snorted and hiked her track pants back up her hips.  “Okay, we're not doing that again, right?”</p>
<p>“It sounds like they want to know you better,” Willa said, examining the acceptance letter.  “That's good.  They didn't see 'werewolf' and automatically throw your application out.  It means they'll take you seriously.”</p>
<p>“This is good, Wynter.” Wyatt held his arms open and she hopped up to hug him tightly.  “Oooof!  Strong like wolf!”</p>
<p>“Strong like wolf,” she agreed.</p>
<p>Willa gave her back her envelope and all the other papers.  "We're proud of you, Wynter.  You'd better go and put your reply together for them."</p>
<p>Clutching it all to her heart and grinning wide enough to hurt, Wynter fled for the safety of her nook.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, you haven't gotten the scholarship yet?”</p>
<p>Wynter shrugged, gazing out the window of the bus.  “I have to be fully accepted into Wildwood first before the scholarship association decides.  At least the school runs both.”  She watched a field of corn go by along the side of the highway.  “Then I have to be sure I'll make the team.”  Putting her chin on her cupped palm, she looked over at Eliza in the seat next to her.  “Thanks for coming.”</p>
<p>Of all the people she would take to an interview to determine her life path, she wouldn't have thought she would choose a zombie.  But Willa had insisted.  “<em>If they like you and accept you as a werewolf, </em> ” she had explained, “<em>then the door's open for zombies like Eliza to also be accepted.  Together you represent both non-human elements of Seabrook.  You can help each other, so be a friend and take her along. </em>”</p>
<p>“Surprised you invited me.” Eliza rolled her wrist on the armrest, her Z-band reflecting sunlight like an oversized watch.  “I'm not the sort of girl colleges want.”</p>
<p>“And still you came.”</p>
<p>Eliza thunked her head back against the headrest and groaned.  “I needed a break from all the prep work at school.  First zombie high school graduates in Seabrook's history and I end up running the after-party!”</p>
<p>“You're not the only zombie with organizing skills,” Wynter soothed.  “Let some of the others do the work.  You left them a checklist, a backup checklist, and your phone number.”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, and then you threatened them with ear-shredding if they dared text me about any problems.”  Eliza snorted, then glanced down at where Wynter had laced their fingers together on the armrest.  “You know how to put the fear of the wolf into them.”</p>
<p>“It means a lot to me that you're here. We don't hang out very much, you and I.”  While Eliza spent more time with Wyatt, it was very rare she entered the Forest on her own.  “You know you're always welcome in the Den, right?”</p>
<p>“Wyatt's made the invitation often enough.”  Eliza flexed her fingers in Wynter's grip, turning her hand palm up to curl them together more firmly.  “I like it when it's me and him.  Your pack's really welcoming and enthusiastic, but I'm not like Addison who's ready to dive into all the wolf things.”  She bumped elbows.  “So, what's the plan when we get to campus?”</p>
<p>Wynter used her free hand to pluck their schedule from the seat pocket in front of her.  “We've got a split tour, because the biosciences tour is separate from the sports field one.  So we can wander around a bit before I have to meet with the Interview Board at twelve-thirty.  There's supposed to be food, too!”</p>
<p>“Ah, yes.  Lure them in with the good stuff first.”  Eliza nodded.  “You won't see food that tasty on your campus for the next three years.”</p>
<p>“I'm an athlete,” Wynter said solemnly.  “My meals will be planned down to the hour, probably even more than they were in high school.  So I'm taking advantage of this chance to sample 'the good stuff'.”  She had no doubt the Wildwood coach would put harder training on her than Seabrook had.</p>
<p>The fancy bus service between Seabrook and Briar Glen ran several times a day and it took only a couple hours to drive from one city to the other.  For both Eliza and Wynter, this was their first time outside Seabrook and so they spent a good portion of the journey talking and staring out the window at the landscape.</p>
<p>Wildwood College was on the near side of Briar Glen and the coach line maintained a stop for students at the entrance to the campus.  Stone pillars marked the main gate, wound around with brass swirls and decorated donor 'leaf' plaques.</p>
<p>“Nice gates,” Eliza noted as she stepped off the bus first.  She shouldered her purse and turned back to Wynter.  “You didn't bring that much stuff, so why didn't you let Addison loan you her old purse?”</p>
<p>“Preparing for later, when I'm lugging actual textbooks around,” Wynter said.  She had brought her satchel instead of a purse and she wore it cross-body as she came down the stairs, the shoulder strap slung between her breasts.  “Not everyone gets a locker here, especially in the Bioscience program.”  She resettled the strap from her clavicle to her shoulder and gazed at the buildings spread out before them.  “Wow.  It's just like that movie.”</p>
<p>She let Eliza guide her to one side so other people could pass by.  Off in the distance were the woods of Wildwood, where she hopefully would spend a good portion of her classes.  Perhaps she could even run through them as part of her exercise program.  Those woods were not her home, though, and it would take time to learn their pitfalls and their secrets.</p>
<p>Turning her attention back to the buildings, Wynter reached in her satchel for the campus map.  “Okay, I think I know where we're going.  At least we're early, so if I'm completely wrong we won't miss much.”</p>
<p>The first step through those gates sent a frisson of excitement through her, and Wynter didn't know where to look first.  She drank it all in: the welcome signs, the faculty names, and the towers here and there that were part of the original college.  Eight similar structures were dotted throughout the campus and they marked the school's original boundary lines.  (She had read The Her-story of Wildwood on the school's website while she was supposed to be studying one afternoon.)</p>
<p>Modern structures had long since taken over, though, and Wynter looked up at the four residence buildings all linked by walkways to the campus library.  “Those are a little bigger than the Den.”</p>
<p>“At least they're not crazy huge,” Eliza said, “and I've seen your nook.  It'll be good for you to have a proper room, even with a roommate.”</p>
<p>The two women followed the other applicants and their families through traffic barriers onto the pedestrian roads.  Standing banners guided everyone to the main gathering point for the tours and while folks mingled, Eliza's red and green Prawn dress drew several glances.</p>
<p>“For once, people are looking at my clothes instead of my hair," she murmured.  “Makes for a nice change.”</p>
<p>Wynter agreed.  She had seen several various hair colours pass by in other tour groups.  “You didn't have to dress up for me.”</p>
<p>“Oh, please.  You wore your 'traditional' Forest pack clothes.  If I showed up in my jacket and short dress, we wouldn't deliver the message you need to send to this Board.”  Eliza adjusted her long fingerless gloves.  “You are a serious applicant for Wildwood and I am your supporter.”</p>
<p>Putting an arm around her friend's shoulders, Wynter side-hugged her.  “Thank you.”</p>
<p>When their tour started, Wynter ambled along behind the group, one ear tuned to the guide while she did her best to learn landmarks.  She hadn't expected Eliza to have much interest since she was staying in Seabrook after graduation, but the zombie girl looked properly attentive.</p>
<p>The Biosciences Center was one of the first stops and Wynter's heart raced when they entered the lobby.  She gazed at the staircases and higher floors, at the leaflets pinned to the notice board, and the video screens that listed upcoming events and speakers.  There was so much to take in!</p>
<p>“We're a small college, so we don't have the four-hundred seat auditoriums some campuses do, but our classrooms are newly renovated and ready to be used in the next semester,” the guide said.  “You've all chosen a good year to come.”</p>
<p>Eliza glanced at Wynter.  “You're looking like you’re ready to move in right away.  Maybe wait until you see the residence?”</p>
<p>“I live in a forest now, and I can do it again here,” Wynter said softly.  She peered through a glass side panel into an empty classroom, taking in the raised levels of seating and the projectors.  Seabrook had some classroom technology, but this was something else!  She hoped her meager computer skills would measure up to her classmates.</p>
<p>“Yeah, neither forest has WiFi.  Come on.  They're all leaving.”</p>
<p>The tour wound through the main student center, the library, and ended at the residences.  Eliza was right about the dorm rooms.  They were somewhat larger than her Den nook, even with shared accommodations.  Wynter was more pleased about the communal showers than the rest of the tour group, even if each stall was curtained off.  It was familiar territory for her.</p>
<p>During the lunch break in the main lounge downstairs, Wynter sampled the miniature venison skewers as she killed time until her appointment.  Meanwhile, Eliza wandered around to examine the photographs and old trophy cases, occasionally leaning down to talk with younger sisters of other prospective students who had come with their families.</p>
<p>“Shortbread?”</p>
<p>If she had wolf ears, they would have swiveled around at the familiar voice.  Instead, Wynter glowered at the cookie plate being offered over her shoulder, turning that expression into a long stare upward.  “Oh, it's the walking red maple tree,” she said, seeing Catherine Ferguson grinning down at her.  “How did you know I was here?”</p>
<p>“You walked past my laundry room, wolfgirl.”  The redhead nodded to the long bank of laundry machines in the room across from the lounge.  “I was folding clothes when I saw that hair of yours over here.”</p>
<p>“Let's hope nothing shrank in the wash,” Wynter muttered.  Her gaze flitted down Catherine's front to the blue and grey leggings she wore.  “I'd hate for your yoga pants to turn into capris.”</p>
<p>Catherine shrugged.  “If you don't have your own workout clothes, I'm sure my shrunken ones would fit you.”  Her fingers brushed the fur on the shoulders of Wynter's vest.  “Favorite outfit, huh?”</p>
<p>“Traditional,” explained Wynter.  “Every bit of fur on my clothes came from my own kills.”  Sure, it got warm in the summer but with air-conditioning in the human world and the shade in the forest, she managed.</p>
<p>“Badass.  I like that.  So you coming to see the sports field?”</p>
<p>Wynter checked the clock on the wall.  “Ohhhhh, not quite yet.”  She directed a sunny smile upward.  “I've got an appointment with the Dean of Academic Affairs.  They want to interview me before Wildwood accepts my application.”</p>
<p>The redhead folded her arms over her Wildcats T-shirt, looking displeased.  “Really?  Did you use the word 'wolf' a lot in your application?”</p>
<p>“You're not the first person to ask me that.”  Wynter refused to look at the flex of Catherine's arms, although they were pretty much at eye-level.  “I'm open about my species, as is Eliza.”  She twitched her head at her zombie friend.  “We're coming out to the world and making ourselves known.”</p>
<p>Catherine raised her eyebrows.  “Well, I look forward to seeing that brought up at the next Resident Advisors meeting.  If you end up in my building, let me know and I'll go with you to the Community Co-ordinator, okay?  Heck, even if you don't, tell me what you need and I'll make sure someone gets notified.”</p>
<p>Startled at the offer, Wynter nodded.  She was oddly touched by the caring gesture, and some of her irritation at the Amazon of a redhead faded.  “Why are you so invested in me?”</p>
<p>“Girl, I've seen you hit.  You leave outlines of yourself in the competition,” Catherine said, smirking.  “And you're cute when you're angry, especially when you look at me like I'm something you want to climb.”  She made an amused noise when Wynter's irritation flared again and rumbled a growl through her chest.  “See?  Like that.  Makes you kinda hot, Barkowitz.”  Her gaze wandered over Wynter's shoulder and she suddenly swore.  “Someone's trying to move my stuff and take my dryer space.  I gotta go roust them.  You get yourself into this school.  See you on the field!”  With an insulting pat on the head, she took off.</p>
<p>Marvelling at her impressive standing start, Wynter spun around to watch her dash into the laundry room.  A silent theater followed of the ensuing argument and eventual gathering up of Catherine's remaining clothes and basket.  With a toss of her wavy red hair, she stomped out.  Well, it looked like even she couldn't win at everything.</p>
<p>Eliza appeared beside Wynter.  “We've seen her before, right?  She was at Seabrook.”</p>
<p>“Yup.”</p>
<p>She snorted.  “Are you two doing some sort of dominance battle?  Because Wyatt's told me about those.  You'd better cut it out before it gets physical.”</p>
<p>Oh, Wynter could dream.  She could start with Catherine's kneecaps, since they were at the right height.  A pair of bookends would be perfect for her dorm room.  But this wasn't a dominance battle.  No way were the two of them equal.  A werewolf always had the edge.  “We'd better get to our meeting.”</p>
<p>They stopped another tour guide to ask for directions to the Provost's office.  She pointed them towards the nearest of the old towers, which had more modern architecture surrounding it.  Once inside, Eliza found the listing for the second floor administration offices and led the way upstairs.</p>
<p>“Power tries to stay closest to their founding roots,” she said.  “You with the Den, them with their old buildings.  I'll bet this was the first tower they completed.”  When they reached the next landing, she indicated that Wynter should go first.  “It's your meeting.”</p>
<p>Nodding, Wynter went through the double doors and glanced around.  Lots of shiny wood furniture, closed office doors, and a skylight like the one in her Den, but where was she supposed to go?  Then she saw a sliding glass pane with someone at a desk behind it.  “Hello?”</p>
<p>“Yes, can I help you?” the woman said, leaning forward.</p>
<p>Wynter held out her letter.  She felt Eliza come in behind her and so she gestured at her friend.  “We've got an appointment at twelve-thirty with the Dean and the, uh, Provost?”</p>
<p>“Of course.”  The secretary pointed to a couch on one side of the entrance.  “I'll let them know you arrived.  Both of you can sit there.”</p>
<p>As she picked up the phone, Eliza put her finger to her lips and quickly dodged up a hallway of doors.  Bemused, Wynter set her satchel down and watched her as she peered at nameplates.  Finding what she wanted, Eliza hurried back to flop down beside her.  “Astrid Nielsen's the Dean,” she said, “and Tanya Moss is the Provost.”</p>
<p>“Good to know."  Wynter was sure the women would introduce themselves when they arrived, but Eliza was always thinking ahead and picking up details that she wouldn't have imagined.  “You should think about college next year,” she said.  “You're smart, you're driven, but you would rather spend all your time running into walls in Seabrook.”  Wynter absorbed Eliza's incredulous glance, even as those doors down the hall opened and two women emerged at the same time.  “Think about it,” she whispered, then got to her feet.</p>
<p>After the introductions all around, Wynter expected to be invited back to the offices for a private meeting while they made Eliza wait.  But instead, both Astrid and Tanya pulled up chairs from the waiting area and coaxed Eliza and Wynter to sit down again.</p>
<p>“We thought we would do the interview out here,” Astrid said, setting a folder down on the small table between them, “and thank you for coming, Miss Barkowitz.”  She paused.  “Is that your pack's name, or your personal last name?”</p>
<p>Wynter smiled.  At least the first question was simple enough.  “It's my family name, ma'am.   My father was a Barkowitz and my mother was a Lupinella.  Our pack has several families as members.”</p>
<p>Tanya turned to Eliza.  “And I assume you're not a werewolf yourself, Miss Zambi.”</p>
<p>“No ma'am,” Eliza agreed, spreading her hands out.  “I'm a zombie.  Seabrook's power plant disaster fifty years ago is well documented.  My grandparents were zombified in that accident, and my mother was born five years later.  I'm the third generation and part of the first cohort including zombies to graduate high school.  But right now I'm here to support Wynter as an extended member of her pack.”</p>
<p>“I suppose that's quite an honour,” Tanya said.  She sat with her legs crossed, interlaced fingers on top of one knee.  “Wynter, it's rare something as ordinary as a college application gets brought to the Office of the Provost,” she said, “but it certainly confused the registration office downstairs.  They've never seen anything like it.”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  Saying anything right now could work against her, and so she waited for a question.  She had also noticed that neither Astrid nor Tanya were dressed much more formally than Eliza, although the zombie promwear certainly was a splash of colour against the neutral tones of the decor.  Wynter knew her usual outfit could be seen as 'casual', but it was what set her apart as a werewolf.</p>
<p>“Someone was diligent enough to do their research,” Astrid said.  “After all, there are plenty of online videos of the Seabrook Shrimp rugby team and their after-game displays.  But I wanted to meet the woman behind the werewolf, especially after reading your essay and your teachers' recommendation letters.”  She opened the folder and Wynter saw her application on top of the pile of papers.  “Miss Barkowitz, you wrote about your struggle 'between the two hearts inside you'.  Could you elaborate on that?”</p>
<p>Ignoring Eliza's surprised look, Wynter sat up straighter and touched her necklace.  “My pack came to Seabrook High to recover our moonstone.  It's the source of our power and keeps us alive.  We pretended to join the student body, found the stone, and that should have been that.  We had our lives back and needed nothing from either humans or zombies.  We were werewolves, after all.”</p>
<p>She whuffed a soft breath and continued.  “But I, uh, woke up one morning and saw I'd spent two hours working on science homework instead of going out under the moon the night before.  My knee hurt from an important rugby game I'd played earlier that week.  And I had an invitation to a human friend's birthday party after school.  I wasn't the only wolf invited, either.”  Tapping her fingernails together, Wynter shrugged.  “Turns out the human world had something worth sticking around for.”</p>
<p>She glanced at Eliza beside her.  “Someone said once that monsters didn't need to follow the rules, which is true.  If we follow our own rules, we'll always be free.  We won't allow the indignity of human laws to force our heads down and put their collars around our necks . . . or wrists.”</p>
<p>Eliza kept her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead, her pale skin incapable of blushing.</p>
<p>“But sometimes, the value of those rules outweighs our imagined freedom.  And we want to follow the rules, maybe even improve them so we can participate in the same good things.”  Wynter gave Eliza a cheeky nudge of her elbow.  “I woke up that day with two hearts inside me and no conflict between them.  I'm a werewolf, but I'm also a Seabrook High graduate.  Before, I would have put my hackles up at those ideas both meaning the same thing. But if I tried that today, my friends would smooth them back down and humour the growling wolf.  And I would let them do it.”</p>
<p>“You've been rehearsing that, haven't you?” Eliza asked.</p>
<p>Wynter nodded, feeling her cheeks heat up.  “Sorry.  Could have warned you.”</p>
<p>Tanya wrote something down on the notepad she braced on her knee.  “Your recommendation letters both say roughly the same thing.  You tested your boundaries originally but settled down once you found a way to merge your two lives.”  She looked up.  “Do you feel you were pushed to assimilate yourself?”</p>
<p>Confused, Wynter looked over at Eliza.</p>
<p>“Remember our argument over fitting in?” she murmured.</p>
<p>“Oh!”  Wynter understood.  “There was a little push at the beginning, yeah,” she said, “but our culture is open to both humans and zombies like theirs is to us.  If people are brave enough, they’re welcome in our Den.”  She bobbed her head.  “Our wolf language is, well, uh … difficult for humans, but our friends try because they love us.  We’re slowly making our history available, too.”</p>
<p>“So, why Environmental Studies?” Tanya asked.</p>
<p>“I live in a forest,” Wynter explained.  “I know my application lists a post office box, but that's because my home has no mail delivery, no road, and no electricity.  If I leave my Wolf Den for three years so I can be selfish and keep playing rugby, then I'm going to bring something worthwhile back to them.”</p>
<p>“Okay, good,” Astrid said.  “As the Dean for Academic Affairs, I'm responsible for the administration of the college.  Small things like a student application would never make it to my desk, either.  But as Tanya said, this is an unusual case and it will have an impact on the whole college.”  She turned over pages in the file folder.  “Do you intend to leave your application as it currently stands, identifying yourself as a werewolf?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  “Yes ma'am.”  She didn't dare add <em>‘Will that be a problem?’</em> as Eliza would have dared.</p>
<p>“Well then, Wildwood has an obligation to support that identity,” said Astrid.  “We're no strangers to breaking boundaries and barriers here.  It may cause a minor sensation both in academic circles and here on campus, but I assure you that if you wish to be both a Wildcat and a werewolf, then this administration will be there for you.”</p>
<p>“Do you mean, I'm accepted?” Wynter asked, fighting the urge to jump from her seat.  She couldn't believe this was it.</p>
<p>Tanya nodded.  “I can direct the registration office to finish processing your application right away, Wynter.  I understand you also applied for a full scholarship and we shouldn't hold that up.  First payments will be due before you know it.”</p>
<p>“YES!”  Wynter leapt up and a victory howl surged from her chest.  “AAAWOOOOOOO!”</p>
<p>She subsided and took in the startled expressions of both women, plus the sudden slam of the plexiglass window at the secretary's station.  The sound of doors opening up and down the hallway made her quickly sat back down again, rubbing the nape of her neck.  “Oh, um, sorry . . . too much?”</p>
<p>Astrid laughed and stood up as office staff gathered in the waiting room.  “I can see we'll have a learning curve of our own to get through.  You might have to explain often until we can get some stories out about you and your pack.”</p>
<p>Eliza nodded at the people looking around in confusion.  “Perhaps now might be a good place to start?”</p>
<p>Tanya set her notepad down and stood as well.  “Excellent suggestion.”  She turned around to address the growing crowd.  “Everyone, I apologize for the sudden surprise but we are accepting a new student and, as you've just heard, she has quite the story for us to pick up and run with.  Miss Barkowitz, would you please introduce yourself as Wildwood's very first werewolf?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“No, I swear!” exclaimed Eliza to everyone's laughter.  “I was <em> this </em> close to whipping out that letter you gave me when they asked if Wynter wanted to declare herself a werewolf.  If they'd denied her, boom, on the table, ladies!  Read it and reverse your decision!”</p>
<p>Wynter straightened up from fitting drawers beneath her bed and delicately patted her hair back into place.  “Ahh, what letter was that?”</p>
<p>“Get this.”  Eliza gestured at the white-haired girl busily deciding which of Wynter's furs would go at the end of the blanket.  “Addison got worried that the school would reject your application during the interview, so she got her mother to write this gorgeous recommendation letter on your behalf.  If either of them had said you being a werewolf wasn't a thing, I was ready to slap it down on the table.”</p>
<p>“Mom even had it notarized,” Addison said, folding one fur pelt and handing it back to Willa.  “She's so proud of you, Wynter.  But I guess it's better that you didn't have to use it.”</p>
<p>Wynter blinked in surprise.  “Your mother's proud of me?” she asked.  “Seabrook's mayor?  Are we talking about the same woman who wanted me tied up outside the police station for all the times you broke curfew with us?”</p>
<p>Addison laughed some more.  “That wasn't only you; that was the whole pack she wanted rounded up!  But she got over it.”  She spun around in the small dorm room and edged past Eliza.  Four women certainly took up floor space in Wynter's new nook.</p>
<p>“Shame, really.”  Willa had staked out a spot in the doorway so both Eliza and Addison could help Wynter unpack.  “We had the most hangdog expressions picked out for when she got around to making good on that threat.  She even said she'd make 'Bad Wolves' signs to hang around our necks.”</p>
<p>“Oh, is that what that graduation photo was all about?” Eliza said with a smirk.  “Tell Wyatt to hang onto that sign.  I might have a use for it.”  She ducked a thrown cushion from Willa.</p>
<p>Wynter sat on the windowsill and watched her friends bicker affectionately.  Everyone had pitched in after graduation to help her pack up her nook in the Wolf Den and load it into Bonzo's old van.  He was the only one who had a license, after all.  Luckily, everything had fit in the back and she only had to carry her jewellery box on her lap the whole ride down.</p>
<p>Zed and Wyatt had both hugged her goodbye at the road outside the Forest, and it was a mark of how much emotion she felt that Wynter had allowed Zed to lift her up in his arms.  She'd dug her claws lightly into his back as a concession to their mutual (if mostly one-sided) rivalry.</p>
<p>She had ended up housed on the third floor of a residence behind the main library.  Down the hall was the ring walkway that looped through all four buildings and branched into the library at different points.  Her dorm also backed onto the paths that led to the woods, and Wynter could be out the door and into outdoor classes in a shot.</p>
<p>Her dorm split off into two bedrooms, each with their own doors and both opening into a small shared living space.  Their bathroom was right beside the front door.  She'd managed to get a room in the middle of the hallway, so she was the same distance from the showers and stairwell as she was from the kitchens and lounge at the other end</p>
<p>“You do pack light,” Eliza admitted, looking around.  She put Wynter's new shower caddy on top of the bookcase the girls had scrounged from a second-hand shop.  Old and new biology textbooks took up the first shelf and Wynter was sure she would add to them as the semester went on.  “Has any of your scholarship money come in yet?  You might have to dip into it for stuff we didn't bring.”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded.  Her first semester's tuition was paid, as were her meal plans and her housing fees.  She still had a lot left over, though, and was determined to not spend too frivolously.  Several 'pebbles' from her stash lay nestled in a hidden vest pocket in case of a real emergency.  “Still learning how to use a bank, though.  I hear they have sessions in the lounge on that kind of thing.  I'll attend a few.”</p>
<p>Willa handed her a framed picture of the whole pack, taken after the infamous graduation photo.  This one included their extended members like Eliza, Zed, the Aceys, Bree, and everyone who had laid a hand on the moonstone's frame to bring it back to Prawn.  “When that article on you comes out, save a few copies for us,” she said.  “I want one to hang on your nook to remind us all that we can do what you've done.”</p>
<p>“I will,” Wynter assured her.  She had spent some time with Wildwood's public relations office, opening up about Seabrook's history with both werewolves and zombies.  The more the news spread, the better a foundation other wolves and zombies would have to join her.</p>
<p>Then she gasped as her old alpha lunged and clung to her.  She nestled into Willa's comforting arms and tucked her chin in.  “Mmmfff.  Keep hugging me like this and I'll want to come right back home.”</p>
<p>Addison rolled her eyes and patted Willa on the back.  “You've got to let her go sometime.  And she'll be back at the first long weekend, right Wynter?”</p>
<p>She peeked over Willa's shoulder.  “If I'm not buried in horrible homework,” she said, her voice muffled.  “They said that they won't go easy on us.”</p>
<p>“You can do it on the bus.”  Addison tugged on the collar of Willa's dress.  “Come on, let her breathe.”</p>
<p>With a sniffling giggle, Willa released her and stood back.  “You've made us proud, Wynter, and I know it won't be the last time I say that.”</p>
<p>Folding her hands at her waist, Wynter dipped her head in acknowledgement.  “Thank you.”</p>
<p>Eliza peeked in.  “I've got your dishes arranged out here.  Try to make sure your roommate doesn't steal your mugs,” she said.  “Now I'm going to check on Bonzo and Bree.  I'll bet someone's recruited him to lift some heavy stuff up the stairs and he's left Bree on her own.  We'll be lucky if she's not wandered off into a sorority house.”  She vanished again and the thump of her boots retreated down the hallway.</p>
<p>The other women nodded.  Bonzo knew zombie and wolf, but still didn't speak much English.  That wouldn't matter, though, as he got along in life by being the big, silent type.  Perfect for being useful and carrying heavy things without complaint.  Bree would either be translating for him or making sure no one ticketed the van.</p>
<p>“Um,” Wynter said, glad that Eliza had left them for this next part.  She had wondered how she would get Addison and Willa alone.  “While I have you two here, I need to say something.”  At their questioning looks, she forged ahead despite her nervousness.  “Addison bared her throat to you last month,” she said to Willa.  “She didn't have to show that much trust for my small little secret, but I understand why it happened.”  She looked to Addison.  “You overpaid so you could give me a lovely favour and I appreciate it very much.  I know we talked about you taking my place in the fur piles at the Den, remember?”</p>
<p>Addison nodded.  “Is that still okay?”</p>
<p>“Oh yeah,” Wynter agreed, nodding quickly.  “But if you decide to go through with that, don't let Willa push you into things just because you showed her a high level of trust.”</p>
<p>Willa cocked her head.  “I won't abuse my authority,” she said with a sharp smile, “and those were some important wolf trust levels I revealed to Addison.  I think I was within my rights to ask for a suitable offering in return.”</p>
<p>Smiling with equally bared fangs, Wynter moved in.  “Which is good because after she came to you, Addison offered me her heartbeat right there in her own bedroom.  That means I have a higher level of trust than you do.”  She hummed.  “So I'm allowed to reveal all your most tender spots to her when she joins your fur pile.  I might even parcel them out so her discovery lasts until next spring, because oh, there are <em>so many</em>, aren't there?”</p>
<p>Addison snorted a giggle and clapped her hand over her mouth as both wolves shot a look at her.</p>
<p>Willa scowled, although it seemed to have no force behind it.  The prospect of being tended to by the Great Unifier was a lure to nearly all the pack and Willa was no exception.  “Well played, little one.  You're truly growing up.”  She turned and stalked out, projecting an 'injured-wolf' aura but Wynter knew it was all an act.  Their pack was terrible about asking for the attention they wanted, and it was little jousts like this that helped bring those wants and needs to the surface.</p>
<p>Even as Willa stomped away, Addison continued to chortle.  Finally removing her hand, she composed herself.  “What was that?”</p>
<p>“Me making sure she gets the care she needs,” Wynter said.  “Graduation took a load off Willa's mind, but now she and Wyatt have to make good on their promises to keep our relationship strong with both the zombie community and yours.  She's too proud to ask for attention, too, unlike him.  If you get the chance, wrap her up in a hug and don't let her go.”</p>
<p>“Needy wolves,” Addison scolded softly, laughing.  “Oh, here.”  Reaching into her back pocket, she pulled out a smartphone and offered it to Wynter.  “I upgraded mine over the summer, because storage space was driving me nuts.  I can only take so many cheer videos without deleting other stuff.  So, I thought you could use my old one.”</p>
<p>Wynter accepted it, surprised.  “Addison —”</p>
<p>“You can hook it up to the campus WiFi for nearly all your needs.  But there's also a six month cheapass data, text, and call plan, in case you're out on the town or something and need help.”  She cocked a hip and awkwardly rolled her wrist around.  “Or, you know, stay in touch with everyone back home, in case you get lonely or want to snitch on Willa to me.”  She brushed her sleeve across her mouth, sniffling.  “Wynter . . . ”</p>
<p>Both of them launched forward and collided in a hug, holding onto each other.  Wynter could feel her friend trembling, so she tightened the grip around her shoulders.  “I made it,” she said softly, “I can't believe I'm doing this.”</p>
<p>Addison pressed in close, her palm rubbing quick little circles on Wynter's back.  “I know, it's amazing.” She choked on a sob.  “We're so very proud of you, and you learn lots and come back home safe, okay?”</p>
<p>Wynter did her best to nod, tucking her nose into Addison's hair so she could get her scent one last time.  “I couldn't have made it through all this without you, either.”  She whuffed softly, puffing her breath into her friend's ear.  “You're my Great Unifier and you pushed me to get this far.  Thank you.”</p>
<p>The hug went on for some time and when they finally broke apart, Addison lunged for the tissue box on Wynter's bedside table.  “Glad I didn't put on my wolf makeup this morning,” she said, dabbing at her eyes.  “I mean, I thought about coming in full pack gear for you, but it was too warm for the fur.”</p>
<p>“You get used to it.”  Wynter set her new phone aside on the bed.</p>
<p>“Oh, wait.  Here.”  Laughing shakily, Addison produced the charging cable and handed it over.  “Might need that, too.”  She mugged an embarrassed face.  “I'd hate to be halfway home and realize I still had it.”</p>
<p>Grinning, Wynter laid it on top.  “And that reminds me: if you do go into the Den for a cuddle pile, remember to take your phone out of your pocket.  We've built a little electronics storage shelf for visitors now.  No chance of a moonstone brushing over your hip and shorting out your charge.”</p>
<p>“Will do.”  Addison cleared her throat and bent down to pick up the last empty cardboard box.  “I, uh, guess that's everything.  Want to come down and say goodbye to Bonzo and Bree?”</p>
<p>Wynter nodded and followed, pausing only to close her door behind her.  Years of living in a nook with only a curtain covering the entrance, and now she had to get used to guarding the few belongings she had.  Luckily, she'd made some more wolf-locks over the summer.  One for her bedroom door, another for her locker when she finally started training on the rugby pitch.</p>
<p>Sure enough, Eliza and Bree both sat in the open sliding door of Bonzo's van, watching him as he helped a family stack rubber storage containers on top of a dolly.  “Oh great.  Here you all are," Eliza said.  "Bree, do you want to drag Bonzo away from being a help?  We can't take up space here too much longer.”</p>
<p>As Bree dashed off to retrieve her boyfriend, Addison looked around. “Where's Willa?” she asked.  “You don't think she was really upset, do you?”<br/>
<br/>
“Not even close,” Wynter assured her.  “Wait until you end up accidentally making a dominance challenge, then you'll see her upset.”  Still, Addison was right.  Where had Willa gone?  Had she found some shade from the late August sun?  Maybe she had gotten thirsty.</p>
<p>Familiar laughter drew her attention and then, to her shock and horror, her old alpha came around the van with Catherine ambling along beside her.  Both had half-unwrapped ice creams in their hands.  “Oh, no.”</p>
<p>“Wooo!  Two wolves on campus!” Catherine exclaimed, waggling her fingers at Wynter.  “Nice job dodging my rez, Barkowitz.  You slipped right out from under me.”</p>
<p>More like right through her legs, Wynter thought.  A whole parade with floats could make its way between those granite pillars.  Aloud, she said, “Don't you have a den of your own to mother?”</p>
<p>“Twenty or thirty women away from home for the first time.  They're a real handful,” agreed Catherine, “but then your Willa found me, probably because I had spare ice cream.”  She offered her free hand to Addison.  “Hey.  Catherine Ferguson.  My friends call me Cathy.”</p>
<p>“Addison Wells.”  After the handshake, Addison snapped her fingers.  “You were a recruiter at Seabrook!  Thanks for giving Wynter the inspiration to come here.”<br/>
<br/>
Catherine snorted.  “Oh, I doubt I influenced her too much.  Wynter needed space to roam free and we have that here at Wildwood.  Better than Pine Valley, at least.”  She turned back to Willa.  “Listen, thanks for the offer, but I don't think I could do the position justice.”</p>
<p>Willa nodded, slanting a glance at a suddenly-worried Wynter.  “Let us know if you change your mind.  Wildwood could use an honorary alpha to keep an eye on our special girl.”  One fang flashed in a smirk and her message was clear: <em> ‘I can sell you out just as easily.' </em></p>
<p>Licking a drizzle of ice cream off the back of her hand, Catherine shrugged.  “I heard about what Addison did, and I know the respect Wynter holds for her.  I couldn't match that.  Never mind being a full werewolf like you, Willa.”  She popped her ice cream into her mouth and made a pleased noise.</p>
<p>Bree came over with one hand holding onto Bonzo's elbow.  He was still waving to the family he'd helped.  “Okay, I've got our driver.  Is everyone coming back or do you want to embrace college life, too?”</p>
<p>Willa lapped at her fingers to clean them off.  “If they treat me this nicely all the time, I'd consider staying.”  She yipped and hopped sideways on one foot as Addison grabbed her elbow in a similar fashion to Bree and Bonzo.  “Hey, what?”<br/>
<br/>
“Come on, you've got a wolf pack to be a part of,” Addison said, “And a physical to get, remember?  You're not ducking that like Wyatt is.  You two are the last ones who need them.”</p>
<p>It was Wynter's turn to grin as a protesting Willa got herded back into the van.  Addison waved as she pushed Willa into a rear seat.  “Bye Wynter, text me soon!”  She pulled the sliding door shut once Eliza had blocked Willa's escape route.</p>
<p>Wynter waggled her fingers and nodded.  Bree got in the front with Bonzo and he honked his horn at her as they backed out.  The van carefully navigated the lineup of cars waiting for their spot, and she watched it as it drove down the lot and finally disappeared behind the other buildings.</p>
<p>With a sigh, she straightened her back and decided to head back to her dorm room.  She had a whole lot of things still to do.</p>
<p>“Whoa, where are you off to, lone wolf?”</p>
<p>Wynter nearly tripped on her first step as Catherine's voice threw her off-stride.  “My room?” she asked scathingly.  “Where else would I be going?”</p>
<p>“Follow me,” the redhead said, turning and heading towards another of the ring residences.  “I might not be your RA, but that doesn't mean I can't look out for you.  I went and got you a goat.”</p>
<p>“A goat?” Wynter repeated, frowning.  She didn't know the college allowed farm animals to be kept in the dorms.  “I appreciate the thought, but I don't have anywhere to keep the meat.”</p>
<p>Catherine chuckled as she walked in the propped-open front door.  “Sorry, different meaning for that word.”  She ignored the elevators, since they were all in use, and bounded for the stairs with Wynter on her heels.  “My folks run a horse farm, and I'm the daughter who decided she wasn't going into the family business.”</p>
<p>She made the turn at the first landing and took the second flight of stairs in twos, Wynter panting behind her.  “But when we took a horse to the racing stables, we'd take a goat along too.”  Shoulder checking the door to that floor of the residence, she held it open to let the werewolf catch up.  “Someone discovered horses and goats get along great, so the stables kept a few around to calm the horses and give them some company.”  Partway down the hall, she knocked on a closed door.  “So I got you something similar.”</p>
<p>A tough-looking blonde with a pixie cut opened the door.  She already had on her complimentary Wildcats Frosh T-shirt and looked impatient.  None of the moving boxes stacked behind her on the dolly were open, though.  “How much longer am I sitting here waiting for the — Oh hey, Wynter!”</p>
<p>Wynter blinked.  “Huh?”</p>
<p>Catherine looked less like a redwood tree and more like a smirk on legs now.  “Wynter Barkowitz, you remember Harriett Proulx from Hillside High School.”  She gestured between the two.  “We scooped her up on scholarship, too.”</p>
<p>Harriett nodded, looking pleased to see Wynter.  “I didn't know you'd applied here too until Catherine told me.”  She turned around to prop the door open, revealing the “Faculty of Medicine – Sports” stencilled on her shirt.</p>
<p>“Is this a hello thing, or what?” Wynter still felt confused.</p>
<p>“If you like, she's willing to be your dorm mate,” Catherine said.  “She got assigned to my floor, but I saw the listings earlier and figured something out.  You know her from rugby games and she already knows you're a werewolf.  So why not put you two together?  Say the word and I confirm the room switch.”</p>
<p>Wynter and Harriett eyed each other.  Harriett was the first to nod.  “I think we can get along.  You don't need to turn me into a werewolf to live together, right?”</p>
<p>“Oh! Oh, no!” Wynter hastened to assure her, waving a hand.  “It's not necessary.  We haven't turned anyone into a werewolf in decades.”  Something else occurred to her and she smiled back.  “Although, it's not hard to make you an honorary pack member, like several of my friends.  That's much easier and isn't as messy.”</p>
<p>“Great!” Catherine declared, clapping her hands together.  “One of you grab the dolly handle, I'll go and get the door to the Ring.  Wynter, your building is two over on the walkway.  You'll see the signs.”  She strode off, leaving the former high school rivals to their own.</p>
<p>“You think you can make the team this year?” Harriett asked Wynter.  “I need to get stronger if I’m going to stay on the front line.”</p>
<p>Wynter whuffed uncertainly.  “I hear there’s competition for flanker positions.  Stronger would be good.”</p>
<p>“We’ll talk about it,” she said.  “But let’s get moving before —”</p>
<p>“Hey, move it you two!  I’ve got dozens of other girls to ride herd on today!”</p>
<p>Harriett caught Wynter’s annoyed eyeroll.  “She irks you too, doesn't she?” </p>
<p>She nodded.  “I'm putting birdseed in her hair at some point so she'll end up with robins building a nest on her head.  Then she'll really be a giant redwood.”</p>
<p>With a peal of laughter, Harriett seized her dolly and hauled it out of her empty dorm room.  “Okay, let's get over to your building.  Are you unpacked already?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, mostly.”  Wynter considered the stack of boxes and decided to hold onto some of them so they wouldn't topple over as the cart bumped over the uneven carpet.</p>
<p>Harriett found some space to turn the cart around so she could push it instead of pulling.  “Good, because I'm positive my folks put too much stuff in here.  Mom said they could take some of it back when they came down for break, but I don't know where it'll go in the meantime.  They must have really wanted my room empty.”</p>
<p>“We'll sort it out.”  Wynter got in beside her as if they were back in a rugby scrum, both women pushing on the handle to guide the dolly down the hallway.  “I hope you brought shelves with all this.”</p>
<p>“Flat pack ones, yeah.”  She peeked up over the top of the boxes.  “Okay, Catherine’s got the door for us.”</p>
<p>“Tell me which way to push,” muttered Wynter.  “I can aim to run over her feet.”</p>
<p>Harriett stifled a heavy laugh, bending back down to push harder.  “No no, if you do that, we’ll end up running laps or something!  I don’t care if she’s not part of our program, she seems like a captain who’ll make you run drills until you puke.”</p>
<p>Wynter grimaced at the memory of the last time the team had practiced until they suffered.  “I hated doing those.  I’ll behave.”<br/>
<br/>
“Is this how our year’s going to go, with me keeping you out of trouble, Wynter?” Harriett teased.  “Because I’m up for it if you are.”  Her feet slid on the carpet and the dolly almost skewed.</p>
<p>“I’m a stay at home sort of wolf,” Wynter said, using her weight to drag the dolly back into line.  “You and I will be perfect dormbodies, and the fun will come to us.”</p>
<p>Harriett finally caught the angle and the front wheels bumped over the threshold onto the bare floor of the Ring.  “Sweet.  I look forward to it. And you can teach me how to put you back together after games.  I liked watching that.”</p>
<p>Catherine clapped her hands at them.  “Good effort, ladies.  Now that we’re on solid floor, let's pump those knees!”</p>
<p>Raising her head, Wynter growled a plea to her pack’s moonstone.  “Seriously.  One power surge, one swerve, that’s all I ask.”  Once she was safely in her dorm, she hopefully wouldn't have to deal with the redhead so often.</p>
<p>Somehow, she knew she wouldn't be that lucky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>~-~-~-End~-~-~-</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to all my readers for coming along on Wynter's journey outside of Seabrook and her pack.  She has a long road ahead of her at Wildwood, but she has new friends there, as well as new teammates, and her friends back home will miss her dearly until she comes home for the holidays.</p>
<p>If Addison dares to fill Wynter's spot in the Den, she could be in for several surprising, yet fun discoveries.  Wyatt and Willa still need to face their fears of doctors, and Zed, Bonzo, and Eliza will always be there to lend a disembodied hand.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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